Keeper of the Keys
by Moonlight Through the Water
Summary: What happened on the day Lucy's mother died? Is everything about it what it seems? When Lucy finds a mysterious Stellar Spirit Key, will the events start to unravel? And what about the dragons?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, all, and welcome to my first Fairy Tail fanfiction! I know I should work on my other fics, but this ideas been bouncing around in my head for a while and it won't. leave. me. alone! I guess inspiration is like that, so you should use it while it's still hot. I know the title isn't too original, but I haven't thought of a better one yet. I LOVE Fariy Tail! It might be changed later. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

**NOTICE: Chapter has been slightly modified as of 10/4/13**

**Disclaimer: All of Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima, only this plot line and any OC's are mine.**

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**Keeper of the Keys**

Rays of light from the setting sun illuminated the lavish bedroom, coloring everything shades of yellows, oranges, pinks, and reds. But even with these lights, or maybe because of them, the shadows seemed to grow longer as the sun gave its last efforts to combat the encroaching night. A solitary figure sat in an armchair next to the window, gazing out over the vast fields and gardens, and the small town-like place of her home. She could see all the people going about their jobs, finishing up their respective tasks for the day from her vantage point. Long blonde hair glowed in the fading light, creating a halo around the woman's upper body, obscuring her facial features. She could only watch as all of the others outside went about their lives, oblivious to the figure of their beloved Lady watching them through sad brown eyes. But she knew it had to be this way. Her right hand clenched tightly, fisting on top of the armrest.

Taking a deep breath, she quieted her fears, making sure they wouldn't leak into her voice, she began, "It's time, isn't it?"

There was a silence in the room following that statement. When it seemed almost unbearable a feminine voice spoke out from the shadows. "…yes."

The figure in the chair relaxed slightly upon hearing the voice, and she smiled as she watched the hubbub going on down out the window. "I knew this would happen when I accepted this task. I just didn't realize how painful it was going to be." She doubled over abruptly, coughs wracking her body as she covered her mouth. Shadows parted as a cloaked figure started to move toward the woman, but stopped at the hand she held up to signal the cloaked person to halt. The coughs slowly tapered off, and the woman straightened, sitting back elegantly in her chair once again. "I'm fine. I still have enough strength left for this."

The cloaked figure turned their head to the side. The woman chuckled quietly. "Don't worry," she reassured her companion. "It isn't your fault. This was my choice." The cloaked figure gave no outward reaction, just continued standing at the edge of the shadows and the light.

The woman adjusted her white shawl slightly, still not turning from the window. "Will you look after her?" she asked quietly.

Starting slightly, the figure in the shadows swung back to the woman and answered, "Of course! She's like family to me!" She glanced down for a moment. "But she may not remember me by the time we meet again."

The blonde tilted her head slightly, a silent request for elaboration.

"I sealed her memories of me. I won't come into contact with her until she is ready to accept the circumstances, and the seal may not have worn off by then." The figure hidden in the dark paused for a moment before she continued quieter, almost too softly for the other to hear. "…She deserves to be innocent for a little while longer."

Sighing, the blonde woman agreed completely. There was no reason to involve her precious one until absolutely necessary. Even though she knew that though her little girl was strong, if there was too much burden placed too early it could just as soon break her as strengthen her. And she was going to have enough to worry about for now. She could afford to be ignorant for now.

Steeling herself, the woman pushed up from her armchair and walked over to the window. She put a hand on the pane of glass, letting the cool texture ground her. This would be the last time she saw this familiar scene, the last time she would stand here. She just wished she could spend one last moment with her daughter, but she knew that would only make her waver. And that could not happen.

Turning to finally face her companion, she smiled at her. "Thank you. For everything. For my daughter. For being my friend."

Even though she couldn't see her friend's face through the darkness and the hood that hid her, she knew the expression on her face would be a mix of guilt and anguish. She shook her head, and answered, "…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I already told you, this is the path I chose. Just remember to keep your promise. Look after my daughter." She could just make out a small smile on the figure's lips, and she smiled in return. The cloaked head glanced off to the side suddenly and sighed. It was time, then. She just hoped when the time came, her baby girl would understand.

Reaching a black gloved hand out across the shadows and into the light, the cloaked woman said softly, "It's time to go, Layla."

As Layla walked over to place her hand in her friend's waiting one, the small calendar on her desk fluttered, the date reading 7-7-777.

* * *

Birds flitted through the trees of a giant forest, singing their praise to the sun and the spring. Sunlight filtered through the treetops, speckling the forest floor and illuminating the small critters going about their daily lives. Vines grew along a rocky mountainside hidden in the cluster of trees, flowers being pollinated by busy bees. But this peace was not meant to last. The serenity was broken by an angry yell.

"Argh! Stupid Natsu!"

Soon the source of the disruption stomped around a bend, scattering all the wildlife not already frightened away by her shout. Mud covered the blonde teenage girl walking furiously down a deer path in the forest, the mud dripping down her bare legs and arms with each movement. Lucy Heartfilia was not happy, definitely NOT HAPPY.

_This was all that stupid fire idiot's fault!_ Lucy thought as she made her way further into the forest. If he hadn't been his usual destructive self, Lucy wouldn't be covered in mud, walking through a forest all alone. First of all, when you go out on a job, you don't destroy the object you're supposed to be getting back for the clients! What was the point of taking this job if it was going to end in ruin, just like always? Well, to be fair, Lucy knew that Natsu didn't do it on purpose, but still! It was just the principal of the matter. And she might not be so angry at him if he hadn't ruined her new outfit in the wake of his destructive rampage!

Lucy halted midstride, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself down. And another. That was it, maybe now she could find a lake or something to get the mud off. Starting forward again, she heard an audible _squishing_ sound from her knee-high boots and could feel the gooey-ness between her toes. There went her newfound calmness right out the window. She just barely bit back a shriek of revulsion.

Why, Lucy thought, did Gray and Erza have to already be going on separate missions when Lucy had brought the job request back to her team? One of them, AKA Erza, might have been able to curb Natsu's destructive tendencies. She thought about that for a moment, then dismissed it. No, those two also tended to cause trouble on missions, even if it didn't always reach the Natsu Scale. Yes, she had invented a measuring scale for it. This particular job should have been around a two.

They were only supposed to retrieve a family heirloom for a merchant family that had been swindled into giving it up. "It" being a famous statue of the first Celestial Spirit summoner that had been in the merchant family, the Waveresses, for centuries. That had been what had first caught Lucy's eye. She had always wanted to see that statue, especially since she had been taught Celestial Spirit magic, but had never gotten the chance, even before she had moved out of her father's house. The Waveresses had never been considered classy or rich enough to visit.

The rich collector who had taken it had a supposedly highly magical security system, so the Waveresses had requested a mage to help get the statue back. Which hadn't actually been too much of a problem (though Natsu did want to just charge through the front door and demand it back, which brought disturbing images back from the Evaroo mansion incident. She shuddered just thinking about it). They had found the statue fairly easily and snuck back out after getting through a few magical traps, mainly thanks to Happy. But after they had reached the outside they had been surrounded by at least ten mages. One of which had been a mage who specialized in water-based magic. Needless to say, Natsu hadn't been particularly happy about that one. The aftermath of their battle had left a soggy mess around the area of conflict. Lucy had been the one handling the statue- there was no way she was going to give up such a valuable object to the hot-head in their team- and when Natsu had joined her after their respective fights, Happy in tow, he had slapped her on the back in congratulations. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem. But considering how there had just been a water fight, making the ground slippery and muddy, added to Natsu's slightly overzealous gesture, Lucy had ended up on the ground with the mission's objective breaking her fall. Literally breaking.

All three had just stared at the pieces of clay littering the muddy field until Happy had cut through the silence with "Lucy broke it!" Needless to say, Lucy had not handled that statement well. So here she was, walking through the nearby forest, most likely becoming more lost by the minute, using her anger to mask her guilt, because it was better than crying. It wasn't fair. Yes, she had been the one holding the statue, but she would never break something so important to her magic's heritage on purpose. It hadn't helped when the two idiots had been looking at her all shifty eyed after Happy's declaration. She felt a vindictive kind of satisfaction at the thought of the long, _long_ train ride back to Magnolia.

…But Lucy did know that it wasn't really Natsu's fault either. She stopped again with a resigned sigh. She was going to have to apologize for blowing up at the both of them when she got back. They were both her precious nakama after all. Lucy smiled softly to herself. She really did owe them. They were the ones who had brought her to Fairy Tail, after all. She had a home now, one where she was accepted for just being her. And that was worth more to her than all the riches and status in the world.

But first she was going to get rid of the mud covering her; there was no way she was going to go the rest of the day being this filthy! Just as she was walking past a small cave opening she heard it. A dripping and rushing sound that could only be associated with water. Bingo!

Lucy made a quick turn into the small rocky chamber. For the first few steps the way was almost pitch black but for the little sunlight streaming through the crack, but the farther she continued in, the more she became aware of a soft glow. As she went deeper, the sound of water increased and she noticed that the light sources were small stalactites hanging from the ceiling. But what was weird was that after a while her surroundings seemed to become hazier and sticky.

Rounding a bend, Lucy froze to the spot, mouth agape and brown eyes wide. "A hot spring!" she exclaimed in delight. And indeed, it was. A medium sized pool was against the back wall of the cavern, lighted by a giant chandelier-like stalactite. Water cascaded down from a small waterfall at the back of the spring. Steam wafted gently from the water, explaining the fogginess of the passage. Lucy's face stretched into a grin. This was perfect! She could wash her clothes and take a nice relaxing soak. It was almost worth this mission's failure to be able to bathe in a hot spring. And for free too!

Lucy hummed happily to herself as she stripped down and lowered herself into the warm water. She relaxed back against the side of the spring, letting herself just relax for a minute before setting to work on her clothes. Scrubbing them thoroughly, Lucy absently noticed that her clothes withstood only minimal stains. Maybe her day was turning out better than she thought?

…Nah, she still had to tell the clients that their heirloom had been broken by her team and herself. Gloom settled over Lucy again at this thought, but she shook it off, punctuating it with a shake of her head. She wouldn't think of that for now. Right now she was only going to let herself relax.

Finished with her clothes and setting them off to dry, Lucy started to return to the water and had just slipped in when a faint sparkle caught her eye. Curious, she waded her way carefully through the water towards the glint. The steam rose thicker the closer she came to it because of the water droplets from the mini waterfall, as it was just to Lucy's right from her destination.

Reaching it, she squinted down at the small ledge sticking out from the wall. It was hard to see past the steam and water condensation, but she could just make out a small dark object. Frowning in curiosity and slight puzzlement, Lucy reached out and grabbed it. As her hand closed around the familiar shape her eyes widened momentarily before they slipped closed and she slumped forward in a dead faint.

_Her little feet pattered lightly on the soft grass as she ran under a garden hedge to her mother's favorite private garden. "Mom!"_

_Layla Heartfilia turned around at her daughter's voice, smiling."What is it, Lucy?"_

_Lucy skidded to a halt in front of her mother, slumping slightly to catch her breath. Layla waited patiently until the little girl looked back up at her mother with a grin. "I summoned my first spirit today!" She held up her right hand holding a silver Celestial Spirit key triumphantly._

_Layla's eyes dimmed a bit, but brightened again too quickly for her eight year old daughter to notice. She smiled down at her instead and said, "Congratulations, Lucy! How should we celebrate?"_

_Little Lucy beamed up at her, soaking in the praise and love that only her mother could give. Not that the servants didn't adore her, but there were only some types of feelings only a parent could give. "Can we have a slumber party in my room?" Lucy asked, hope shining in her brown eyes._

_Making quick mental changes to her schedule and Lucy's, Layla grinned down at the expectant child. "Of course. Why don't we go get everything ready, alright?" She held out her hand to the little girl._

"_Yeah!" Lucy placed her hand into her mother's much larger one before they started back toward the mansion, chattering excitedly about her plans as they occurred to her. "We'll have to get some hot chocolate; Spetto-san makes the best hot chocolate, and lots of pillows. Can we have a pillow fight? Betty and Sally can come too. And we have to have story books." A thought hit Lucy, cutting her off mid-rant. "Mom, can - come? She always tells the best stories." Lucy looked up at her mother with pleading eyes._

_Having been smiling in amusement at Lucy's spiel, Layla paused before saying, "Yes, I'm sure she'll be happy to come. Just try not to get into any trouble with her okay? Your father wouldn't be too happy about any ruckus."_

_Lucy pouted, but agreed. "…Fine." Layla chuckled quietly. Her daughter was too cute. Yes, this was going to be fun. Even _she _would like it. Especially her._

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Natsu crossed his arms in slight anger and irritation as he walked down the path Lucy had taken earlier when she had stalked off. She hadn't had to hit him and Happy. They had just been joking; she hadn't had to take it so hard. He absently rubbed his still red cheek. She could really throw a mean punch despite how she looked.

Natsu had sent Happy ahead to arrange for their departure and to maybe find a way to fix the statue. Lucy had seemed to take that harder than he had thought she would. He frowned. Maybe it had something to do with Stellar Spirit mages…? Well, whatever, he'd ask her about it later. Hopefully she would be calmed down by the time he found her. He shuddered. Lucy could be as scary as Erza when she was angry.

Stopping at the end of the path, Natsu sniffed the air to catch Lucy's scent. It was a weird combination of carnations and mangos, but Natsu liked it. It spelled out 'Lucy' to him. He followed it until it led him to a cave entrance, more like a crack in the side of a mountain.

"Why would Lucy go into a cave?" Natsu wondered out loud. He would have thought she would have avoided it. He could remember her complaining about bats and creepiness on other missions involving caves. But her scent was obviously leading him into it, so he ducked in. He could immediately hear the increase of the sound of gushing water and the smell of it. He figured there was probably an underground spring of some sort, so maybe that had lured his blonde teammate into the cavern. As he made his way down he would call out every once in a while for his missing nakama. Unease crept slowly up his spine when he never heard a response.

Soon he reached the hot spring, his reaction unknowingly mirroring Lucy's. "Hot spring!" Natsu yelled, throwing his arms in the air, Lucy momentarily forgotten in his excitement. He saw Lucy's clothes in a pile off to the side and his expression darkened. She was obviously here, both his nose and her clothes attested to that; she would never leave her clothes behind. He called out again. "Lucy?" A faint note of panic had wormed its way into his voice.

Peering through the steam Natsu was just able to make out a head of blonde hair next to the waterfall turned away from him. Fear bloomed in his chest as he yelled "Lucy!" She didn't move, even as he jumped into the water and made his way to her in seconds. He hauled her up into his arms as he continued to call her name. "Lucy?! Luce, come on speak to me. What happened?" He shook her slightly, frantic. But she didn't even twitch. The only thing letting him know she was still alive was her light breathing.

Clutching her protectively to him, Natsu got out of the pool, miraculously having the presence of mind left to grab her still damp clothes and drape them over her. He remembered Igneel once having told him that if humans were left wet in open air for too long they could get sick. Warmth flooded the air around Natsu as he dried her off with his magic even as he hurried back outside, never breaking pace. "Hold on, Luce. I'll make sure to get you home safe." His arms tightened around her limp form.

Lucy's right arm flopped against Natsu's chest as he ran. Her hand was clenched tightly around a key. A Celestial Spirit key that was black with specks of gold.

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**I know not much has changed, but thank you for reading it anyway (to those of you who have; newcomers thank you for reading!) The Great Revision of 2013 has begun! Please tell me what you think, whether it be about the story, characters, or whatever you feel about Keeper of the Keys.**

**Complaints, comments, concerns, opinions? All are welcome!**

**~Moonlight Trough the Water**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all my reviewers out there, you have no idea how much it meant to me that you asked me to continue this story. I'm so glad that it seemed to be liked! Anyway, I'll let you get on with the chapter now, I just hope it lives up to your expectations. Because all the reviews I recieved were favorable, I will continue with this story. Just to be forewarned though, I tend to update sopradically, so don't think I will drop it. I plan on continuing it!**

**Revised as of 10/4/13**

**Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, not me**

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**Chapter Two**

Sunlight trickled through the floral print curtains and onto Lucy's eyelids, making them twitch. She groaned lightly, not ready to wake up yet, and clenched them closed tighter while turning her head away and pulling her comforter up over her face. She snuggled back into the covers, her mind only half awake. It was always the most comfortable in your own bed. …Wait, her bed? She was just in an underground hot spring.

Lucy bolted upright, her comforter slipping down to pool at her waist. She looked around in confusion, mouth agape, at what was most certainly her room.

"What the-" she began, but was immediately cut off by a chorus of voices.

"Lucy!"

"You're awake, Lucy!"

"You okay?"

Lucy was knocked back down onto her bed by a blue blur and was immediately surrounded by the worried and relieved faces of her teammates. Erza, Gray, and Natsu all stood around her bed watching her with worried expressions mingled with relief.

"Lucyyy!" Happy wailed, covering her cotton sleep shirt in tears. Lucy wrapped her arms around him as she sat up, securing his furry body to hers. She patted his head absently as she looked up at her less emotional teammates in silent inquiry. They all just stared back at her for a moment until Erza finally caught on.

"Lucy, Natsu found you unconscious on your last mission and you wouldn't wake up. He brought you back to Fairy Tail and the master got Porlyusica-san to look at you, but she said there was nothing wrong and you would wake up on your own." Erza paused for a moment, her eyes unreadable. "You've been unconscious for three days."

Lucy stared vacantly through her friends, silently absorbing that information when something occurred to her. Gently prying Happy from her chest, she asked Erza, to clarify if she had heard right, remarkably keeping her voice level. "Natsu found me…?" she asked in a quiet voice. Happy, catching a glimpse of her face as she lowered it, her bangs obscuring it, backed slowly away from her as prey would from a predator.

"Yeah, Luce. You weren't back yet and hadn't answered when I called for you," Natsu responded, oblivious as usual to the atmosphere. The more sensitive two of the trio exchanged glances behind the dragonslayer's back and inched away from him. Natsu frowned down at his blonde teammate. "I found you in the hot spring and you were collapsed against the back wall." He didn't notice when Lucy's hand clenched around the comforter and continued, "So I brought you back here on the train." He did notice, however, when her whole body started trembling. Leaning over her he asked in concern, "Lucy, are you o-?"

He was cut off by Lucy's fist connecting to his jaw, sending him hurtling down to the floor and skidding into the opposite wall. When the brief moment of shock wore off he snapped his head back to his attacker, hand to his already red jaw. "What was that f-" but he broke off at what he saw before him, breaking into a cold sweat. Lucy was standing on top of her bed, fist still raised, with a black aura around her and one of the scariest expressions he had ever seen on her face. Gray and Happy were huddled together in a corner while Erza just watched stoically from her position next to Lucy's bed.

"You found me in a hot spring, naked," Lucy stated, and by the look on her face she wanted him to answer, but he didn't think it would be good to speak out loud, it might provoke her more and he wasn't sure if his voice would come out anyway, so Natsu just nodded, not seeing the problem. "And," Lucy continued, her expression darkening more, if that was even possible. "You carried me out of there NAKED into town, am I right?" Lucy continued; still in that ominously calm voice.

Slowly it dawned on Natsu that he probably shouldn't have done that since Lucy always cared a lot about her appearance, but he had been in a state of panic at the time. But Lucy obviously wasn't in the mood to hear that now. Gulping in apprehension, Natsu reluctantly nodded just the slightest bit.

"You IDIOT!" Lucy shrieked.

Reaching reflexively to her side for either keys or whip, either would have done, Lucy belatedly realized that of course they wouldn't be there while she had been bedridden for three days. But it was enough of a distraction that all the males occupying her room were able to quickly vacate the premises, leaving only her and Erza.

"That was a bit much, Lucy," Erza said after a pause.

Lucy whipped her head around to glare at her, but it was lacking the menacing aura from before. "But that was the equivalent of streaking an entire town!" Lucy defended sullenly. Not to mention Natsu. Sure, he had seen her in her underwear and even a towel before, but that wasn't the same as being truly in the nude. Lucy had to fight down a blush just thinking about it.

"True," Erza nodded, knowing she would not be comfortable in the blonde's place either. "But Natsu didn't do it with ill intentions. He was seriously worried about you. By the time he got back and you still hadn't regained consciousness, he practically burned down the guild before Master took you to Porlyusica-san's home." The re-quipping mage added with a faint grin, "He wouldn't let anyone else hold you until Porlyusica-san ordered him to."

Lucy did blush at that, feeling herself deflate, she flopped back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling of her apartment.

"The train ride must have been torture for him, with just Happy to look after the both of you." Erza added as an afterthought. "And you were dressed by an elderly woman who took pity on you on the train from what Happy told me."

Groaning in guilt, Lucy thought, how was she supposed to apologize now? She shouldn't have blown up at the flame mage without first hearing his side of the story. She, of all people, should know by now that the oblivious idiot wasn't wired like a normal human being. He walked around in the same outfit (or a variation of it) in any season, for pity's sake!

As she was mentally berating herself, her red-headed friend was contemplating her silently. When Erza felt that Lucy had been given enough time to reflect upon her actions she got down to business. "More importantly Lucy, do you know why you fell unconscious? Do you remember anything at all about what happened before you woke up?" Erza kept her eyes intent on Lucy's face.

Lucy blinked up at Erza and thought back to the hot spring. She had just set her clothes out to dry (what happened to them anyway?) when something had caught her attention. Brow furrowing, Lucy thought back to how she had found a small object on the ledge, it turning out to be a Stellar Spirit key. "The key!" Lucy blurted out in realization, sitting upright. After she had grabbed the key she had fainted, and she had had a dream about her mother. She frowned. Weird.

"Key?" Erza echoed, bringing Lucy back to the present.

"Yeah, a Stellar Spirit key," Lucy explained. "I found it on a ledge in the hot spring, but I fainted after I touched it." Erza frowned thoughtfully, wondering what could lead a Stellar Spirit key to have such an effect on a Stellar Spirit mage. "It was weird though, I've never heard of a black key before," Lucy mumbled to herself. "Maybe the steam made it look different?" But somehow she knew it hadn't been her imagination. An idea formed in her mind and she raised her head to look at Erza. "Can you bring me my keys, Erza?"

Puzzled, but trusting her comrade, Erza brought Lucy back her keys. Clinking lightly together as they were placed in the hands of their mistress, Lucy took stock of them, searching for a particular one, starting when the black and gold-speckled key stood out in contrast to her collection of gold and silver keys. "Erza," she began carefully. "Did anyone put this key on my ring?" She held the black one up.

The redhead leaned closer to observe it, but shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid I haven't heard anything concerning it."

A bit creeped out, Lucy sighed but made no comment on it. Instead she said, "I'm going to see if I can get some information on it from one of my spirits, so you can leave or stay if you want." The armor mage nodded in acquiescence, and sat quietly on Lucy's chair off to the side so as not to disrupt. She herself was curious about this particular key.

Dismissing any reservations, the blonde chose a key off the ring and summoned. "Open, gate to the Southern Cross!"

A small poof, complete with a flash of light, and a slumped over figure with a cross shaped head floated in front of Lucy's bed. Grandpa Crux was cut off mid-snore and his snot bubble popped with a soft _snap_. He blinked blearily up at his summoner and cleared his throat. "Ah, Miss Lucy, what do you wish to ask of me?"

Lucy smiled fondly at the old grandfatherly spirit for a moment before becoming serious once again. "Grandpa Crux is there anything you can tell me about this key?" She held up said black key.

Eyes widening comically, the sagely spirit coughed in surprise. "H-how did you get that?"

"I found it in a hot spring." Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. "Whose key is this?" she demanded.

"…found it?" Crux said quietly. He stared contemplatively at the innocuous object for a few moments before falling into a meditative state with a "Hum", remarkably looking to all the world like he was sleeping.

Erza looked incredulously from summoner to spirit, before saying to Lucy, "He fell asleep."

"No, he's not." Lucy answered automatically, already knowing by heart when Crux was actually sleeping or not. He had been the very first Stellar Spirit she had ever summoned, and had been with her a long time, so she knew his habits, and he hers. But what had her full attention was how he had reacted to her mystery key, like he knew exactly what it was and was astonished to see it. Her brow furrowed as she watched him carefully. He didn't even wait to ask exactly what she wanted him to search for before he had gone off into his 'search state', as she had dubbed it.

Her suspicions that this was no ordinary key were confirmed when Crux came out of his trance without his usual boisterous exclamation, and instead with a subdued, "I see…" He sighed heavily before facing Lucy again, who was at the edge of her bed in anticipation.

"The Spirit of that key has given me permission to tell you a little about her," the old spirit started. So it's a girl, Lucy thought. She wondered what kind of a girl spirit had a _black_ key. "She said to tell you that when I have finished you may choose whether you wish to summon her or not. You have the choice to refuse. I will relay your answer to her, and if you make no contract her key will vanish from your presence." He gazed sternly at Lucy. "Whatever your choice, you are not to divulge any information I have told you this day. It would be appreciated if your companion were not in the room for any of this, since it is highly sensitive and only for a Stellar Spirit Mages' ears."

Erza, ever the stickler for rules, got up from her seat and nodded. "I understand. I'll see you later, Lucy." And with that, Erza was gone.

"Now, where to begin…" Crux muttered. "Ah, I should probably tell you that she is a bit temperamental, and can create her own gate at will, like Leo, if she has an active contract. Mostly because she is high level Stellar Spirit, and so has the power to spare." He waited for Lucy's nod to continue. "Now the reason you have been given a choice about this contract is because…well, this one is slightly dangerous to her contractor's health."

"Dangerous…?!" Lucy echoed. How could this Spirit be dangerous to her summoner?! The contracts were in place to help and defend the mages!

"Understand this, Miss Lucy. It is not because of her will that this can happen, but because when summoned in full, the contractor's magic runs out very quickly, and if there is danger in the immediate vicinity she is not allowed to leave, even when the summoner's life force itself is being tapped to sustain her." Crux let her absorb that bit of information for a moment before he finished with, "But unless you truly need her full power, she advises you not to summon her. When she comes of her own violation to this world her power is only roughly a sixth of what it truly is, and she tends to keep an eye on her charges, so to speak, by popping in on them once in a while. Or if they are in need of her, the contractor may call for her by name and she will come. These are the terms she has laid out since her first contract."

Lucy sat in silence on her bed, thinking about all that Grandpa Crux had just told her. This…this was a very serious contract. Her life could be in danger because of it! Lucy could feel herself start to panic, but she roughly shoved it down and tried to think about this rationally. First of all, Crux had said that this spirit could come to the human world herself, but she needed a contract. Okay, that was fine. The part that scared her silly was that if she slipped up and summoned her, she would very likely die.

But didn't the cross man also say that this spirit told her NOT to summon her unless absolutely necessary? The more logical part of her asked. She was even getting a choice in the contract and a synopsis of what it would entail. And from what he had said, this would make a very strong addition to her team of spirits. If this spirit was that strong with restraints, would that mean she was really strong without them? Would she continue to be a hindrance to the "strongest team"? …Though Grandpa Crux did say she was _temperamental_. Though she couldn't possibly be worse than Natsu whenever he was hungry without any source of food or fire readily available.

Sighing in exasperation, Lucy concluded that she needed more information if she could get it. So she looked up at the most convenient source. "Can you tell me more about her, Grandpa Crux? Like at least her name?"

"I am afraid that is all I have been permitted to say, Miss Lucy," Crux answered with a regretful shake of his cross-like head. "The only reason I have been able to violate the privacy laws of the Spirit World is because the specific Spirit herself has given consent on at least this much. The rest is entirely your choice."

Somehow, Lucy knew he would say that.

The old Stellar Spirit cleared his throat hesitantly. "…If I may…" Lucy nodded. "I have known this one for a long time, and she is not one to do things like this lightly. She _chose _you. She must have her reasons." Giving his final statement, the old man slumped back in his floating position to wait.

This last little tidbit sent Lucy reeling. Never, in all the time that she had known Crux of the Southern Cross, had he every given anything resembling a personal opinion on anything she had asked him. That alone made her decision sway towards contracting. And this spirit had chosen HER, out of all the Stellar Spirit mages in the world.

Decision made, Lucy stared up at her Spirit informant, chocolate eyes sparking with determination. "Alright. What do I have to do?"

Crux hummed in grandfatherly approval, his mustache twitching above his smile. "All you must do is hold her key in your hand and say 'I have accepted this contract' and her name."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him and said with a touch of irritation, "I don't know her name!"

"Hum." Crux crossed his arms thoughtfully. After some consideration he replied with, "Use the name 'Hikari'. And with this, I must take my leave, hum." He bowed in midair and was gone like he came, with a puff and a light.

Lucy blinked at the slight annoyance of the light in her eyes; she had long ago gotten used to such entrances and exits, and looked down at the black key, situated right in front of her. She took a deep breath to shore up her courage before reaching down and taking the key into her hand, holding it palm up. There was no time like the present, right?

Closing her eyes, Lucy chanted the words Crux had told her. "I have accepted this contract." She gulped, trying to bring some moisture back into her suddenly dry throat. "Hikari!"

Golden light flashed like a lightning bolt before her, making black dots dance behind her already closed eyelids. When she could finally bear to open them again she looked right into a pair of golden irises. Despite herself, she jumped slightly, falling back onto her bed again.

The Stellar Spirit, obviously the mysterious 'Hikari' straightened up from her position (where she had previously been leaning over Lucy's face) dark black hair just brushing her collarbones swaying with the movement. One brow quirked up in apparent amusement, almost hidden by her straight bangs.

Both took a few moments just to take in the other's appearance. This woman looked to be only a few years older than Lucy herself, but looks are always deceiving with Stellar Spirits. She was taller than Lucy by a few inches and was dressed in black pants with a leather belt holding some sort of wooden rod, a long-sleeved black shirt layered over a gold one, and worn dark boots. A black chocker-like band ran around her neck, a tear-shaped red crystal hanging from the middle of it. Her dusky skin complimented her cat-like face, golden eyes, and black hair.

As she was taking stock of her newest _nakama_, the other was looking at her with unreadable golden eyes. It felt like she could see through to her soul and was judging it. She must have passed muster, because the spirit woman reached out her hand and patted Lucy gently on the head, giving her a small smile. A memory flicked through her conscious too fast for Lucy to catch, and was gone. As her hand pulled back, Lucy noticed that there were metal bracers on her wrists.

"You can call me Hikari, little one." Her voice reminded her slightly of Erza's, with a hint of more humor and mischievousness. "It's nice to see you, Lucy."

"Ah!" Lucy jolted a bit, feeling guilty that she had been staring for too long. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. It's nice to meet you, too."

Hikari's eyes flickered with an indefinable emotion for a moment, before it was gone, and the spirit was smiling again, leaving Lucy to wonder if she imagined it. "I'm guessing you want to get this contract more stabilized, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Lucy smiled back, grateful that nothing seemed to be going wrong. Not yet anyway, but it probably would with her luck lately. She led her guest to her dining table and gestured for Hikari to have a seat. Hikari leaned back comfortably in her chair, laying one arm over the back and one resting lightly on the table, and looked expectantly at her.

Lucy folded her hands on the table in front of her and let out a breath. She didn't know how to start, so she decided here was as good as any. "Um, what's your specialty in fights?"

"My specialty would be physical attacks. As for magic, I've been around long enough to know counter spells to most of the common magics," Hikari replied evenly. She considered Lucy for a moment, while the blonde digested this, before continuing. "Also, I can always tell if someone lies to me. Flip side is that I can't lie myself, so I pretty much speak whatever's on my mind. Tends to tick a lot of people off at me," She stated with a negligent one-shouldered shrug.

Lucy blinked, slightly put off track at that tangent. Though it could be useful in other areas….

Hikari grinned at her, eyes dancing with mischief. "Yeah, it's really useful when finding out secrets and stuff."

Staring in amazement, Lucy blurted, "Can you read minds?" But was immediately answered with a negative shake of her dark haired companion's head.

"No, I've just become good at reading body language over the years." The brunette replied calmly, looking at Lucy with guileless golden eyes. She started to open her mouth, but closed it and turned out of her seat and looked at the door. Lucy was about to ask what the matter was, but was interrupted by fast footsteps becoming louder as they neared her apartment.

"Lucy!" Two voices called out in unison, her apartment door slamming open. Natsu and Happy were outlined in the door by the sun's setting rays, both grinning widely. "Erza said you got a new key guy. Is it strong? Show us!" Natsu yelled, excitement radiating off him.

Lucy saw her new spirit's eyes widen out of the corner of her eye as she turned to tell the two idiots to keep quiet, but was halted by an unexpected movement.

Hikari stared at Natsu, incredulity written all over her face, before striding over, yanking his head down by the hair and pulling out some of them, all before any in the room could process it. While the poor abused fire mage yelped in pain and jumped back, holding his head protectively, the Stellar Spirit just obliviously stood in place, intently scrutinizing the hairs in her palm. Lucy and Happy watched openmouthed at what they were sure was a spirit with a few screws loose and a cowering dragonslayer. Natsu's instincts, on the other hand, seemed to scream at him that he shouldn't start a fight with this person, especially since she seemed to be Lucy's friend.

Finally satisfied with whatever had possessed her to yank out some of Natsu's hair, Hikari lifted her dark head to look at Lucy in amazement. "His hair is pink." Lucy nodded slowly, wondering what she was getting at. Hikari just turned her attention back to Natsu, who was eyeing her warily. "You're a guy and your hair is _pink_," she said as a smirk stole its way across her face.

"It's not pink, it's red!" he defended hotly.

"It's pink."

"_Red!_" he growled.

"Eh, you could get away with salmon-colored if you want to be picky about it," Hikari said with a shrug. Happy perked up at the mention of fish. He started to eye Natsu's hair with a dreamy expression on his face. "Wanna try it?" Hikari offered the hair in her hand out to the flying cat with a grin, noticing his expression.

Happy eagerly swooped down on the 'salmon' and stuffed it in his mouth despite Lucy and Natsu's half formed protests. Instantly his face froze and he started gagging until Hikari gave him a good thump on the back, a hairball coming out.

"Ooh, nice one," the brunette commented lightly. "Though there isn't much bile in it, so about a seven out of ten. You get extra points for the cool combination of pink and blue," she gave Happy a thumbs up.

Natsu had been patting his best friend's back with wide eyes, and when Happy finally stopped gagging and fell limply into his waiting arms, the fire mage looked fearfully at Lucy and stammered, "H-Happy and I have to go and –uh– wash the dishes. Yeah, dishes!" And he practically ran out the door.

"Well, that was fun," Hikari said briskly, and turned back to her new mistress. "What's up?" she asked in surprised concern.

Said blonde had been gaping at the scene in front of her, but the sound of the door closing brought Lucy out of her stupor, and she spun around, glaring at the culprit of the whole weird fiasco. "What in all the stars were you thinking!"

"Now the flame user won't try picking fights with me unless I give him a reason to." Hikari stated simply. "And the cat won't try to tease me," She added with a satisfied grin. She chuckled low in her throat. "Also, I just like playing with people. Their reactions are hilarious."

The blonde's mouth fell open in what seemed like the hundredth time since she woke up. That was all planned? She thought blankly.

"Though I do sometimes act on instinct. That was partly why I grabbed his hair," the spirit added as an afterthought. Before Lucy could come up with an adequate reply to this, the taller girl walked over to the small kitchenette of Lucy's apartment and pulled open the fridge, sticking her head inside. "Do you like crepes?" Hikari called over her shoulder.

Lucy continued to stare in shock at her, so the other girl just shrugged and started pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator. The feeling that this was going to be one of the most unnerving friends she was ever going to have settled around her like fishing net. And that was saying something, considering she was a part of Fairy Tail.

"Hey, come and knead the dough." Hikari ordered.

Yep, definitely one of the weirdest.

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**Questions, comments, concerns, opinions? All are welcome!**

**~Moonlight Through the Water**


	3. Chapter 3

**I forgot to mention at the beginning, but this takes place after the end of the Edolas ark, so Lisana and Pantherlily may be in this fic (I haven't decided yet). Thank you all for your reviews, alerts and favorites! It has been my driving force for this fic! (Even with the severe case of writer's block). By the way, if anything seems sloppy or incoherent, don't hesitate to tell me, 'cause I will try my best to fix it. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Revised as of 10/4/13**

**Disclaimer: "Fairy Tail" is the property of Hiro Mashima, not me, only the events and OCs of this story are mine**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Lucy walked through the chatter and ruckus that characterized her guild and took a seat at the bar. She rested her head on her folded arms, letting out a deep sigh. Her position didn't go unnoticed and soon the white-haired bartender sidled up to the blonde.

"What's the matter, Lucy?" Mirajane asked, placing a mug of some kind of liquid in front of her.

Lucy lifted her head to her friend, thankful for the ever ready ear of Fairy Tail's poster girl. "Yesterday was so confusing," she sighed, resting her chin on her hand. The weirdness hadn't stopped after Natsu and Happy's hasty departure. Thinking back on it, it may have become even more surreal after they were gone.

Hikari had commandeered her kitchenette, directing Lucy to different preparations with the ease of a drill sergeant. When they had finally been seated at her lone table, a meal even Lucy's old chef would have wept in envy at in its simplistic but tasteful beauty was laid before them. The mango crepes (her favorite fruit) were cooked to a delicate golden brown, with a drizzle of yogurt based sauce on top and a side of boiled baby carrots. Lucy had been amazed that this could have been created from her meager supply of food; it was almost time to restock.

Hikari had dug in right away while Lucy had just been taking in the food. Noticing that Lucy hadn't touched her food yet, the Spirit raised her head to her mistress with a slight frown. "Go ahead and eat, you haven't eaten in three days."

"Ah, yeah," Lucy said. She picked up her fork and let it hover above her plate. "It's just that…where did you learn to cook like this?"

"A few of my summoners were very well off, and I get bored sometimes, so I tend to pick up things here and there. Habit really, I guess. You tend to pick things up when you've been around for a while," Hikari said offhandedly, giving a slight shrug.

Lucy blinked at the nonchalant way Hikari seemed to take things that others would die for to be able to do. Maybe to a Stellar Spirit things like this didn't have as much meaning since they were practically immortal. But remembering her other spirits made her think this trait was wholly Hikari's.

Deciding that she would think about things later, Lucy ate her dinner, her stomach feeling better already with something to fill it. She hadn't even noticed that she had been hungry.

About halfway through her meal, she remembered an important matter that had been nagging at her since she had first found Hikari's key. "Um, Hikari," she began hesitantly, continuing after she was sure she had her companion's attention. "What constellation are you from?"

The Stellar Spirit paused with a forkful of food halfway to her mouth, caught off guard. She set it down with a sigh, expression serious. "You already know."

"No I don't," Lucy exclaimed, both irritated and perplexed. How could she know something she had never been told? And she hadn't even heard of any Stellar Spirit or key resembling Hikari.

Shaking her head, Hikari explained, "We have a contract, right?" When Lucy nodded her confirmation, she elaborated. "Because of that, it's already in your subconscious, as it is part of the incantation needed to summon me in full. But because of the nature of my contract, you would only be able to access it in times of great need. Unfortunately, once you remember it, you won't forget it again." She had a complicated look on her face as she had said that, parts guilt, sorrow, and regret. "I made sure long ago that I would safeguard the ones under my protection, even from myself, as much as I can."

The blonde summoner sat back in her chair as she thought through this new information. It also brought up another point that she wasn't able to ask either Crux or Hikari before. "Why are you still able to be an active Stellar Spirit when your contracts can kill your summoners? I mean, Loki was banished to die in this world, and he wasn't even directly responsible for his previous master's death," Lucy asked in as normal a voice as possible, but she wasn't able to keep the slightest trace of curiosity from it.

"Leo's circumstances were different from mine," Hikari answered in a tone that said any more questions on that topic would not be appreciated. But right then Lucy didn't care.

"But why?" Lucy pleaded, leaning towards Hikari in her desperation.

"It's personal." When the blonde looked ready to argue, Hikari raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you like it when others pry into something you don't want them to? Especially secrets?" Lucy flinched back slightly, knowing from experience that she didn't like that feeling either. "Some things are meant to be left alone. If there is a need for it, it will be made known to you." For the first time, Lucy could see the age on the young face as she said those words. It (whether the look or the words, she wasn't sure) left an odd sense of foreboding run down Lucy's spine.

"Now," Hikari stated briskly, mood changing quick as lightning. "Remember to keep my key with you at all times."

"I would have done that even if you hadn't asked me," Lucy said stiffly, offended.

"I had to ask. There have been others who would often forget about my key and leave it when they went out on missions or places where they ran into trouble." Hikari scowled, and muttered under her breath, "Idiots."

Slightly horrified that Stellar Spirit mages could be so careless and thoughtless to the spirit's feelings, she was quick to reassure her new spirit friend, pretty face radiating sincerity. "I would never do that! Even if it wasn't in my best interests, it would still be rude."

Hikari smiled at her. "I know you won't. But I still had to make sure the point got across to you, otherwise I wouldn't be able to find you when you need me." At Lucy's confused look, she clarified. "My key acts as a ...tracking device, I guess you could say. It helps me pinpoint your location in this world. Since I have to crate my own gate, this prevents me from coming out in the wrong area, or even country from you." Lucy blinked, never having thought the keys could work like that. "I once came out in a frozen wasteland because an idiot I was contracted to hadn't known about this and called me without my key on him, or anywhere near him for that matter." Hikari said sourly, obviously still irked at the memory. Her expression lightened though when she added, "I did manage to teach a flock of penguins how to dance. My favorite was the conga; it was hilarious watching them waddle and kick their stubby little legs. One always fell down every once in a while." Hikari looked off into nothing, smiling slightly as she reminisced. "They were such cute little suckers. I hope none of them were eaten by a seal."

Lucy had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggles at the thought of dancing penguins, but her mirth was instantly wiped away by the image of them being interrupted by a hungry seal. When she had finally gotten control of herself, she looked up to see Hikari staring speculatively at her. When their eyes met, Hikari grinned, eyes gleaming in a way that made Lucy gulp discreetly in apprehension.

"How well can you dance?"

Coming back to herself with a mental shake, grabbing her mind and forcibly bringing it back to the present, Lucy looked up to see Mirajane looking at her curiously from across the bar.

"I spent most of the night dancing," Lucy informed her with a slightly haunted look in her eyes. It was okay for the first hour or so, but then Hikari had found out that Lucy didn't know how to swing dance. The next four hours had sorely tested Lucy's endurance, as well as her apartment. She had never known that dancing could be so destructive. And her cheeky new spirit had just laughed or shrugged it off, depending on what was knocked down or broken. It didn't help that her tailbone felt like it had a bruise the size of a tennis ball from repeated falling. Whoever had thought up the ballet needed to be shot.

Mira's face had this perplexed look on it as she asked, "What's so bad about dancing?" But she never was given a response since Lucy was pulled off her stool and into the crowd. Mira giggled to herself when she caught a brief glimpse of who it was. She set off to another customer whistling a merry tune.

Before Lucy knew what had happened or get out a fully formed protest, she was shoved into a secluded corner and was boxed in by Happy and Natsu. They crouched down to her level, as she had landed flat on her already sore butt.

"Lucy, who was that scary girl at your apartment last night?" Natsu asked quietly, looking around warily, as if the person in question would appear out of nowhere. Which she might very well do, Lucy thought ironically.

"She's my new Stellar Spirit. Her name is Hikari," Lucy sighed, a part of her amused in spite of herself at their obvious wariness of the dark haired spirit.

Both cat and dragonslayer's mouths dropped open in sequence, and for a moment their reactions were identical.

"But she looked normal!" Happy exclaimed, slightly disappointed.

"Loki looks normal, too," Lucy pointed out, a little miffed that he thought Stellar Spirits were abnormal. …Though she had to admit that they had quirks.

"…It's not as interesting though."

Lucy gave an indignant snort, but let it go. She knew there would be no changing them, and even if she could she would never want to change them.

Natsu had been unnaturally quiet throughout this little exchange, so Lucy looked over to see him frowning thoughtfully, abnormally serious outside of battle. "Natsu?" Lucy prodded.

He looked up, blinking once at her. "Yeah, Luce?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Nah…just that it explains why she felt full of magic." Even though he said that, he still had a troubled look on his face until he smiled abruptly. "Everyone's been asking about you Luce. Let's go!"

Lucy had no time to reply before Natsu pulled her up again and dragged her to the table where she could see Gray and Erza sitting at. When the trio reached the table, all of her friends pounced from where they had been lurking off to the sides. It now made sense why she had been able to pass to the bar without being accosted earlier, despite being gone for three days unconscious in bed.

Fortunately, Levi was the first to reach her, jumping enthusiastically onto Lucy in a hug, which she gratefully returned. "I'm so glad you're alright, Lu-chan!"

"Thanks Levi-chan," Lucy said, smiling as the rest of Fairy Tail descended upon them. The most frequently occurring question asked was how she had fallen unconscious in the first place, but Lucy herself didn't know that yet. So she just answered that she didn't know. It seemed that not many besides her most frequent teammates knew about Hikari's key, and she didn't feel like sharing just yet, not until she had more answers. Come to think of it, she had forgotten to ask Hikari herself if the spirit knew what had caused that particular reaction, considering she was most likely involved. Lucy silently resolved to ask her about it at the next opportunity.

After all the members had greeted Lucy and gone about their business, she turned to her blue haired friend. "I have a favor to ask you, Levi-chan."

"What is it?" Levi asked curiously. Lucy's teammates and the remaining members of Team Shadow Gear all leaned closer, sensing that something serious was going to happen.

"Do you think you could find out anything related to this key?" Lucy asked as she held the black and gold key up to Levi.

Levi stepped forward to get a closer look, peering down at the object in question intently. "I've never heard of a black Stellar Spirit key before," she muttered to herself. Fairy Tail's unofficial researcher looked up at Lucy with eyes shining in determined excitement for the hunt of knowledge. "Leave it to me!"

"Thanks Levi-chan! If anyone can find out something about this, I know you can," Lucy smiled gratefully.

Levi ran off to start her search, waving goodbye to Lucy as she went, Jet and Droy trailing after her. "I'll see what I can find for you, Lu-chan. See you later!"

"Yeah, see you later!" Lucy called to Levi's retreating back, waving. She turned back around, and looked at the usual quartet plus Charle and Wendy watching her.

"Didn't your questions about that key get answered last night?" Erza asked.

"Not all of them," Lucy sighed. She glared at the blue exsheed and pink haired dragon slayer out of the corner of her eyes. "Two idiots interrupted us while we were clarifying the contract."

"Who?" Erza frowned, clenching her fist on the table. Natsu and Happy both started sweating at the implied retribution for interrupting Erza's important female friend when she was doing an important task.

"Don't worry about it, Erza. I can ask the next time I call my new spirit." Even though Lucy was still irritated at the two troublemakers, she thought that since Hikari seemed to have intimidated them enough last night that it was enough punishment. So when they both let out discreet sighs of relief after Erza calmed down, Lucy let herself smile, just a little.

"So what's your new spirit like, Lucy?" Gray asked. Sometime between Erza's reaction and Lucy's subsequent attempt at appeasement his shirt and pants had vanished.

"Gray, your clothes!" Lucy exclaimed. Even after getting used to his weird habit, her eyes _still_ bugged out of their sockets most of the time this happened, especially if he stripped far enough. She was still an innocent maiden, after all!

He looked down casually, and jumped up when he noticed that he was only clothed in his boxers with little snowflakes decorating them. "Shit!"

Off behind a pillar, Juvia collapsed with a bloody nose. "G-Gray-sama~"

"Ha ha ha! You have snowflakes on your underwear!" Natsu laughed as he held his stomach.

"Sh-shut up, fire breath! They were a gift!" Gray glared at Natsu, forgetting his lack of clothing for the moment.

"So? That still doesn't change the fact that they make you look like a sissy!" Natsu fired back, grinning madly.

"What was that, girly hair?!"

"It's not girly!"

But before the fist fight could begin or Erza stepping in to stop them, something else happened to make them take their attention off each other.

A pop and a small flash of light appeared right in front of Lucy, and out of it materialized Loki. Lucy opened her mouth to ask what he was doing here when he stepped right up to her, an aura of seriousness surrounding him, cutting Lucy off before she could utter a word.

"You made a contract with the R-Hikari, right?" Loki asked in an urgent voice. When she nodded hesitantly, Loki grabbed her shoulders, eyes wide and panicked behind his sunglasses. "Don't ever let her drink alcohol!"

"I-What?" Lucy asked, not expecting that of all things. "Why?"

The lion spirit's eyes unfocused, growing wider and haunted. A shudder went through his body as he whispered. "Bad things happen when she gets drunk." He blinked and focused on Lucy once again. "We aren't supposed to talk about it." Loki shook his head, looking like he was trying to rid whatever image he was seeing from his mind, and gripped her tighter. "Just don't let her, okay?"

"Ah…yeah," Lucy promised, unnerved to see Loki lose his cool even more than when he had been dying and hiding from her.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer and popped back to the Spirit World.

"What the heck was that all about?" Gray asked, breaking the silence that ensued.

"I have no idea," Lucy replied. But she knew how to find out.

"Lucy!"

Said blonde stopped and turned around at the sound of her name. She had been walking along the side of the river leading to her apartment after catching up with her friends at the guild. But the quick turn made her lose her balance on the slick bricks and she felt herself falling in what seemed like slow motion. The only thoughts running through her head as she fell were _Those old guys are going to say 'I told you so'_ and _Whoever called out to me is going to pay, damnit!_. A shadow fell over her that she could make out, even against her closed eyelids, and warm arms wrapped around her just before she hit the water. Luckily or unluckily, the water was relatively shallow where the two landed, so neither was in any danger of drowning, but Lucy hit her still sore tail bone again on the riverbed.

Her head broke the surface as she gasped, the water just below shoulder level as she propped herself up into a sitting position. When she opened her eyes, she was met with dark green, almost black, eyes peering at her. It was too dark to make out the expression in them, but she could still make out his features in the fading light. "Natsu!"

"You okay, Luce?" Natsu was leaning over her in concern, but somehow Lucy felt her heart pick up the pace at this gesture, as he was positioned almost on top of her.

"I'm f-fine!" Lucy spluttered as she pushed him off and got to her feet. "What did you want?" Lucy asked, trying to hold onto her earlier irritation instead of letting him see her embarrassment.

Natsu got up also; already, almost invisible steam was rising up as he dried his clothes off. "I found a mission for us to go on," he said.

"But didn't you want to go with Lisana since she just came back from a mission?" Lucy asked, remembering the promise he had made with her new white haired friend.

"It's okay. I still have to make up for losing your rent money on our last mission, remember?" He grinned.

Lucy blinked at his reasoning, feeling slightly surprised that he was being so considerate about that issue. But that didn't stop a feeling of warmth spreading through her as she smiled up at him. "Yeah, sure. Thanks, Natsu."

His grin widened in acknowledgement. "Happy and me will meet you at the train at nine tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Okay," Lucy grinned back and they climbed back up onto the road. "By the way Natsu, where's Happy?" she asked curiously.

"Ah, he and Charle went out to spend some time together before we leave." Natsu answered absently. Lucy looked up at him and noticed him looking at her, but he stood silhouetted in front of the sunset so she could hardly even see his face. She frowned slightly, feeling that something was off about him. But before she could put her finger on it, another thought struck her.

"Hey! How come you get to be dry while I'm all wet?" Lucy pouted.

Natsu broke out in laughter, and whatever had been different seemed to break with it. Lucy's chin jutted out even more. He reached out and grasped her shoulders and they heated up along with Lucy. After a moment he drew them back and Lucy was dry again.

"Thanks," Lucy said simply, mollified.

"No problem," He answered, white teeth still visible as he grinned at her. "I'll walk you the rest of the way."

When Lucy looked at him questioningly, he said. "Don't want you falling in the river again."

"That was your fault, idiot!" the blonde fumed, stamping her foot.

"You're the one that fell in," Natsu laughed.

"Humph!" Lucy stomped on ahead of the grinning dragonslayer.

She didn't notice that Natsu watched her apartment from the street until a little while after her lights went off, wearing a serious expression half hidden in the shadows before he left.

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**Sorry that there isn't much action in this chapter, but its purpose was mainly to tie up loose ends from the last chapter, a transition to the plot, and to get the story ready for its plot. I know that Natsu is kind of out of character right now, but there is a reason for it. Next chapter be ready for the organized madness that is Hikari! On with the madness!**

**Seriously though, i would like to know what you think of this story so far. Till next chapter!**

**~Moonlight Through the Water**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the fourth chapter, yay! I'm not too happy with this chapter, but hopefully none are too disappointed by any characters acting OOC. Reasons are explained for it are explained. There is some action in this chapter, but on a smaller scale, as it isn't really my element. Well, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: "Fairy Tail" belongs to Hiro Mashima, only this story's plot and OCs are mine. **

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Chapter Four

A brisk breeze blew a few brilliantly colored leaves in front of Lucy's path as she made her way to the train station. Even though her last mission hadn't turned out so great, she was looking forward to this one. She also really needed the rent money, as her landlord had graciously extended the payment date after he had heard about her recent 'illness', as her guildmates had put it.

Really, Natsu had done her a huge favor by bringing up a new job last night. She couldn't wait to hear the details! With that thought in mind, the summoner rounded the corner that brought her right in front of Magnolia's train station. The building towered above the small, one-story shops set up around it to entice travelers or tourists flocking to and from the station. Lucy was particularly partial to the little café that served delicious but cheap parfaits off to the left of the ticket booth. Even so early in the morning it was a social hubbub.

Adjusting her duffel bag strap to a more secure position, Lucy caught sight of a flash of pink hair and blue fur. She smiled excitedly and raised her hand to wave at the pair, calling out their names. "Natsu! Happy!"

Both noticed her and started waving excitedly back and calling her name. Happy had jumped up on Natsu's head to see over the crowd. Lucy waded her way as fast as she could through the crowd to them, trying not to accidentally elbow the man in the brown jacket, or knock over the old lady window shopping. They had staked out a bench close to the platform, and by the time the blonde teen finally made it to them she felt more winded than the walk to the station plaza. Why the heck was it so crowded on a weekday morning?

"Morning, Luce!" Natsu said cheerfully, oblivious to her panting state.

"Good morning, Lucy!" Happy echoed. He looked at her plain dark green duffel bag. "Is that all you're bringing?"

"Eh?" Lucy glanced down at her luggage. It looked fine to her. "What's wrong with it?"

The talking cat looked doubtfully down on Lucy's duffel from his perch. "…it might not be enough for you, Lucy. You always complain about not packing enough clothes or something."

"Yeah, like the time you forgot your toothbrush once when we had to camp out, or the time your clothes got burned when you left them out to dry," Natsu offered seriously.

"That was you, you idiot!" Lucy shrieked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Natsu grinned sheepishly.

Lucy took deep breaths to calm herself, knowing that she still owed the walking fire hazard one for getting this mission to help pay for her missing rent money, money that neither got from their last mission. "Anyway, what's this mission you found?"

"Oh, yeah," Natsu mumbled as he rummaged in a side pocket of his travel pack by his feet, pulling out a request poster. He handed it to her. "Here."

Taking the paper he offered, Lucy examined its contents. It was a request for mages to take part in a hunt for a monster that had been making trouble in the woods of the town of Hilren, a large town in the eastern part of Fiore. The reward for catching it was 210,000 jewels. It seemed like the perfect job for them, as Natsu would get to fight and the monster didn't seem all that tough from the description. The odd thing was though, that there was a set date to start hunting it, which was tomorrow. Lucy frowned at the poster. What was that about?

"Perfect, right? We can split the cost evenly between the three of us and still have just enough for your rent!" Natsu said, grinning.

"Ah, yeah," Lucy decided to set her doubts aside for the moment and just go with it. She smiled at her two _nakama_. "Thanks for doing this, you two."

"It's alright. You're our precious _nakama_, after all!" Natsu said.

"Yeah. And if you lost your apartment then we wouldn't have a place to hang out anymore," Happy said with a wide grin.

So that's what their ulterior motive is, huh. Lucy could feel a vein throbbing in her skull as she clenched her fists. Natsu and Happy both felt the threatening atmosphere start to rise around their blonde friend and started cringing away from her, but both were happily surprised when all she did was let out a weary sigh. "Let's go get on the train, okay?"

Natsu paled and held his hand up to his mouth to ward off vomiting at the thought of the long train ride.

"Don't get motion-sick before we even get on the train!" Lucy scolded.

"Uurggh," was his incoherent reply.

"Come on," Lucy sighed, and dragged her teammates to the train.

* * *

The trio had claimed a solitary box in the train and settled in for the ride. Lucy took one bench, reading next to the window, while Natsu passed out soon after the train began to move on the other. Happy had curled up to take a nap on the floor in the path of a sunbeam. Apparently he and Charle had stayed out late the night before. She was absorbed about halfway through her book when she was interrupted by an unexpected source.

Coalescing in a soft golden light, Hikari raised her hand in greeting. "What's up, Lucy?"

Lucy started, almost losing her grip and dropping the book she had been reading. "Hikari? What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored," was the succinct reply.

Bored? She came because she was bored? What kind of Stellar Spirit is she? Lucy thought, feeling a phantom twitch in her eye. But really, Hikari wasn't a 'normal' Stellar Spirit, so Lucy really had no idea what to expect from her. Though looking back on her impression of the dark haired spirit woman, it sort of fit that she would do something like this. She noticed that her spirit looked around their cabin for a moment before settling her gaze on Natsu.

Picking up the catatonic dragonslayer from the bench, Hikari placed him on the opposite one with his head resting on Lucy's lap. "H-hey!" Lucy started to protest, but Natsu's head was already firmly settled on her thighs, and she didn't have the heart to disturb him more. Apparently Hikari knew that she wouldn't do anything about the new seating arrangements, as she ignored Lucy's protest and sat down on the now free bench.

Natsu groaned, bringing on a wave of pity as Lucy looked down at his greenish face. She started stroking her fingers through his hair, recalling a half faded memory of someone doing the same to her when she had been younger. Had it been her mother…? …No, whoever it had been had a darker complexion. As she was trying to puzzle out this new recollection, however, Natsu distracted her by turning until his face cuddled into her stomach, letting out a small sigh when he was apparently comfortable enough.

Lucy panicked slightly, not sure what to make of his reaction. She also _really_ didn't want him to get sick facing her. After a second to calm herself down though, she resumed finger combing his hair, smiling softly as a slight blush worked its way onto her cheeks. He just looked so cute and innocent like that.

Forgetting for a moment that she had an audience of one, so when Lucy looked up and saw Hikari watching her with her face propped up on her hand, her elbow against the window and legs crossed, she barely managed to keep herself from jolting out of her seat. Already her blush had tripled, the golden eyed spirit's thoughtful expression not helping any.

Wanting to bring Hikari's attention away from the embarrassing situation (Lucy sent up a fervent 'thank you' to God that Happy was asleep), she brought up the first topic that she could grasp in her mind. "So… why are you banned from alcohol?"

"Who told you that?" Hikari asked, annoyed. Obviously not the best topic, but it did seem to accomplish its goal by diverting her focus from Natsu's position on her lap. Lucy could see her visibly sulking about not being able to get any openly in this world.

"Um…it was Loki," Lucy answered hesitantly. Hopefully Loki wouldn't mind her snitching on him. Though she had a nagging feeling that there would be retribution for the lion spirit sometime in the near future.

Hikari muttered quietly to herself, but Lucy did manage to pick out the words _'meddling'_ and _'brat'_. Finally the spirit sighed and looked at Lucy evenly. "I don't really know exactly what happened, and the other spirits are kind of tight lipped about it, but I'll tell you what I can. Just don't be too disappointed that I can't give you more details because I also have to watch out for the information restriction between humans and spirits too, okay?" She barely waited for Lucy to finish nodding before continuing. "The first, and last, time I ever went drinking was during a celebration in the Spirit World. I don't even remember what it was for, it was so long ago, but it was something big. Some buddies of mine were having a drinking match and invited me to join, pretty much goaded me into it," she said wryly.

She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing with a frown. "I can't even remember that first sip, much less what happened after that, but apparently I went on a rampage or something similar to that right after that sip. Next thing I remember is waking up to a whole bunch of faces watching me in varying degrees of wariness, confusion, and terror. Needless to say, I was never allowed another drop of alcohol related substances ever again," Hikari finished with a one shouldered shrug. "Even though I don't want any, it still makes me curious about what it tastes like, especially since it's banned."

Not knowing what to say at the tale, Lucy just sat there frozen as her companion added as an afterthought. "Leo was pretty young at the time, so that experience left more of an impression on him than most. Though a couple people told me I picked on him a lot during my drunken escapade. It comes in handy in playing around with him though." Hikari grinned wickedly, apparently unrepentant of her treatment of her fellow spirit. Poor Loki, Lucy thought distantly. What had she gotten herself into with this spirit?

Said spirit seemed to notice her discomfort and reassured her. "Don't worry; I'm not going to do something like that to you. I like you."

"You don't like Loki?" Lucy asked, picking up on the silent assertion.

"Eh, it's not that I don't like him per se, it's more that I don't have any tolerance for him." She answered as she leaned back in her seat, waving her hand at Lucy.

"Why?" Lucy wondered, curious.

Hikari looked disgruntled, and her answer made Lucy understand why, as she herself had been on the receiving end of Loki's flirtations. "I don't have any patience for playboys. He hit on me once. He never tried it again." She said ominously.

Lucy had a feeling there was a story there, but she knew that she had pushed enough. And she wasn't certain she wanted to know anyway.

"Anyway, I'm assuming you have a mission. Is there anything I can help with since I'm here already?" Hikari changed the subject abruptly.

Lucy looked up in surprise. She had completely gotten caught up in Hikari's story and forgotten that they were all on their way to Hilren. "Here's the request information." She handed the request poster over to her companion.

Hikari looked it over thoughtfully. "Hm. It looks like it's going to be a bit different than advertised."

"Huh? Different how?"

Hikari smiled at her. "If you haven't figured it out yet, then I won't ruin the surprise. But it looks like it's going to be fun." Her smile widened into a grin.

"Why won't you tell me?" Lucy pouted. "Aren't you not supposed to lie, or something?"

"Just because I can't lie, doesn't mean I have to tell everything that I'm thinking. I can choose what I do or don't want to say."

"That's not fair," Lucy sighed.

"Never said it was," Hikari replied. She looked out the window at the rolling landscape. "We're almost there."

Lucy looked too. She saw a sign coming up fast that read 'Welcome to Hilren', and as far as she could see were trees. "Wow. They weren't kidding when they said they needed help to catch it if it lives in that forest."

"Hey, can I play tag tomorrow?" Hikari asked out of nowhere, bringing Lucy's attention back to the woman watching her.

Lucy blinked at the childlike request, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. "Um, sure. But you don't really need my permission for that, though. But who are you planning to play tag with? " Lucy frowned.

Hikari's face lit up like a child given their favorite piece of candy. "Really? Thanks!" She ignored Lucy's question. She started humming to herself with a slightly disturbing grin on her face. It was… expectant. And not in a good way. Every once in a while she would chuckle darkly to herself.

A shiver ran up Lucy's spine. "I feel like something just happened that I maybe shouldn't have done." Lucy muttered to herself. But it was too late to take it back now. If Hikari had heard, she gave no sign of it.

* * *

The train whistled its halt, and all the passengers stirred from their seats.

In Lucy's cabin, Natsu began to stir on Lucy's lap and jolted to his feet, barely missing Lucy's face in the process. "It stopped!" He shouted, which woke Happy up with a sleepy "Aye!"

Lucy stretched; glad to finally be able to get up. Natsu's head had prevented her from moving around to relive her stiffening muscles.

"Thanks for lending me your lap, Luce!" the fire mage exclaimed gratefully, turning to look at the blonde. Her heart jolted in her chest at his words.

She felt herself blush when she looked at Natsu, and turned away quickly hoping he wouldn't notice. Fate wasn't so kind.

"Something wrong, Luce? Your face is all red." Natsu peered at her face, making her blush even further.

"N-n-nothing! Nothing at all! I-I'll go find a hotel for us!" That said, Lucy rushed out the door.

"What was that all about?" Happy asked, having missed the beginning due to lingering sleepiness.

"…Dunno," Natsu said quietly as he stared out after the blonde summoner.

Hikari had watched silently from her position on her seat during the whole scene and smiled secretly to herself. She had just found something more interesting than tomorrow's game. She got up and walked out the cabin, calling over her shoulder. "I'll go with her, so you two bring the luggage." And with that she walked out of sight, leaving the cat and dragonslayer alone to wonder if they had missed something.

* * *

Lucy had reached the main street by the time the golden eyed Stellar Spirit had caught up with her mistress.

She had been at a loss at why she had reacted the way she had. It was like how a schoolgirl would react to their crush. But that was ridiculous. This was Natsu she was talking about. That destructive, fire-breathing idiot. No way, right? …Right?

An image of Natsu the night before, of him leaning over her in the river flashed through her mind. She flushed again, harder this time. It felt like he had been looking at her differently than normal, more intensely.

She sighed, regretting she had run off like she had, but she had promised to find a place to stay for them, so she would do it. She started off more determined than before, until a crashing sound came from an alley somewhere ahead of her. "What was that?" she shrieked, thinking that maybe she should go back to her teammates after all.

She was pondering if she should go back when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder and just about jumped out of her skin, letting out a squeak. "Don't wander around alone at night." A familiar voice chided.

Lucy looked back into the face of her newest spirit and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I was just-"

"-embarrassed," Hikari finished for her. Lucy looked down at her feet. "It's nothing to be ashamed about." She chuckled quietly to herself. "But it looks like you've started to notice."

Lucy frowned in puzzlement, trying to figure out what that last sentence could mean. When she couldn't, she asked in a slightly irritated tone. "What does that mean?"

Hikari's golden eyes just twinkled down at her. "It won't mean anything if you can't figure it out for yourself." She grinned mischievously all of a sudden. "But if it takes you too long, I'll push you a bit."

Lucy didn't really like the sound of that, but she had enough sense to leave it be for now. Both started searching again for a decent hotel to use, walking along in companionable silence until a thought struck Lucy.

"Hikari," Lucy began, looking across to her companion. "Do you have any idea why I was unconscious for three days after I found your key?"

"Yeah," was the immediate reply.

Lucy waited a few moments, but when an explanation didn't appear forthcoming she asked, "Aren't you going to tell me what it was?"

"No."

The blonde stopped midstride and turned completely to the spirit. "Why not?" she shouted.

"'Cause I don't want to," Hikari stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Lucy was left dumbfounded as Hikari moved on, calling over her shoulder. "Hurry up!" Lucy did, but she muttered to herself about the unfairness of it all the whole way. Hikari smiled softly at her as they continued on and reached over to ruffle Lucy's blonde locks.

Soon they came across a respectable looking hotel and booked two rooms for the night. The rest of their team arrived and soon they were all out for the night. Though Hikari only stayed long enough to make sure Lucy would be alright, and then popped back to the Spirit World with a promise to meet up with her in the morning.

* * *

The light of day brought to light every streamer filled road and alley. No nook and cranny were spared from the festive mood. There were street venders selling gadgets and spells, food, or supplies stationed all over the main street. One big banner proclaimed in large letters 'Monster Hunt' over the main plaza. Mages and civilians milled about, picking up last minute things, or securing a spot to watch the spectacle.

Lucy stood frozen in the middle of the street, gaping at what was most definitely _not_ advertised in the request, or even there when they had arrived yesterday evening.

"Oh, this looks interesting," Natsu exclaimed, shading his eyes to get a clearer view of the festivities, and to check out the competition.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, raising a blue paw.

"Is this what you meant by 'surprise'?" Lucy asked in a monotone, directing her question to the Stellar Spirit on her right.

"Yeah, there was a set date on there, so I figured it would be something like this." Hikari answered. Lucy had noticed that too, but she had dismissed it as unimportant. She was seriously regretting that now. How were they supposed to catch the monster and get the reward against this many people? Hikari yawned. "Let's go get signed up." She started to make her way to the booth labeled 'Sign Up'.

"Ah, wait up!" Lucy called after her, running to catch up. Natsu and Happy trailed behind, pointing out this booth or that gadget to each other.

They were given a team number and heard some interesting gossip from the giggling girl at the sign up desk. Apparently the mayor of the town was quite extravagant and the next election was coming up, so when the monster infested their forest, the center of the townspeople's livelihood, the mayor decided to make the ridding of it into a big spectacle to boost his popularity. So the 'Monster Hunt' was born.

"Waa, what a weird mayor," Lucy commented after they had headed to the starting line at the edge of the forest. It was almost time for the hunt to start, so all the mages and monster hunters that had been lured here were talking quietly around them.

"Hello and welcome to Hiren's 'Monster Hunt'!" A female announcer greeted from a platform from behind the starting point, voice amplified by a megaphone. "We will be monitoring everyone's progress through the forest using these magical screens-" Multiple images of trees and forest popped up behind her. "-so we may verify that the ones collecting the reward are truly the ones who caught the monster, as well as for our viewing pleasure. Teams may interfere with other teams' progress, but no killing. Any cheaters will be disqualified." After a brief pause the announcer lady began again. "Here is a picture of the creature you are looking for." An image of a dark brown gorilla-like beast with a snake-like tail covered the previously scenery filled screens behind her. "If you are all ready, we will begin the count down." Numbers now filled the screen, starting from 10 and counting backwards.

"I'm getting all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed, knocking his fists together.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, unfurling his wings and hovering above the ground.

Lucy just sighed, but got into a ready position anyway.

A loud bang and cheer signaled the start of the hunt, and all the contestants raced into the waiting forest. Their team ran through the trees for a while, Natsu and Happy in front, with Lucy and Hikari bringing up the rear. Suddenly Hikari pulled a little ahead of Lucy and looked back.

"I'll meet up with you guys later," Hikari said before she veered off into the trees.

"Ah, wait a-" Lucy began, stretching out her hand after her, but the spirit was already gone out of sight. She stopped in her confusion, which caught the attention of her remaining companions, causing them to halt also.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Natsu asked, shifting from foot to foot in his impatience to keep moving.

Lucy stared in the direction Hikari had gone in for a moment longer before shaking her head. "Nothing. Hikari just said she'll meet up with us later."

"Alright, then let's get moving!" Natsu dashed off, Happy and Lucy following. She laughed off her confusion, feeling buoyed up by Natsu's enthusiasm. She was sure whatever Hikari was doing, she would be okay.

* * *

Natsu dragged the unconscious monster behind him as Lucy walked next to him, carrying Happy, on their way back to town. "That was disappointing. This thing wasn't very strong." Natsu complained, shaking the snake-like tail he held in emphasis.

"Don't worry about it. I'll treat you to lunch to make up for it," Lucy offered. Natsu and Happy's shouts of happiness made her smile, but it didn't last for long. True the monster itself hadn't been much of a problem, its special talent seeming to be camouflaging itself and ambushing them, but Natsu's superior sense of smell had kept its tricks from working. But it was strange. Lucy had expected at least some of the other groups to interfere, but they had been strangely absent throughout the whole hunt.

"But you know, I wonder why we didn't see any others out here. I was hoping they would have fought with us," Natsu said, disappointed, echoing Lucy's thoughts.

"Aye, we didn't see anyone after we had gone into the forest," Happy said from Lucy's arms. "Maybe they all got caught up fighting each other?" the exsheed suggested.

"Yeah," Lucy agreed quietly. Was there something else in the woods? A rustling caught their attention, making them all tense in anticipation. All let out a sigh of relief when they recognized the figure stepping out of the foliage.

Hikari's face looked refreshed and happy as she greeted them. "Looks like you got the monster, congratulations."

"Thanks," Lucy said, then stopped, trying not to get drawn into the golden eyed spirit's pace again. "Wait, where were you?" she demanded.

"Playing tag," she answered, looking extremely pleased with herself, looking like a cat with cream on her whiskers.

"Huh?" all three members of team Natsu said in unison.

Hikari didn't answer their obvious confusion, instead turning around and ordering them. "Come on; let's go collect your reward. I'm hungry."

Natsu, Happy, and Lucy all exchanged glances, both males looking at Lucy for an explanation to her spirit's eccentrics, but all she could do was shrug. Even she didn't know what was going on in that mind of Hikari's. All they could do was follow the confusing spirit woman back to town.

When they arrived back in town they saw a crowd gathered around the main screen reading _replay,_ watching a battle of what looked like immense proportions. It seemed like all the other mages were there, either knocked out on the ground or battling what looked like just one person. Natsu and Happy were immediately drawn to the screen, Lucy curiously following too.

The figure on the screen moved so fast that there were blurs during some of their movements, picking off their attackers in multiples. Magical attacks seemed to have no effect, as the figure seemed to charge out of the resulting dust unscathed, or just brushing some off like they were nothing. Any who tried to run were mercilessly knocked out before they got more than a couple steps. Smooth punches and kicks sent hardened fighters flying, and soon there was only the lone figure left standing in the clearing she had made. Until now, she hadn't been able to be made out clearly, but now the figure turned slightly, showing a familiar profile before disappearing calmly into the trees.

Lucy's eyes had widened into saucers and her mouth dropped open. Turning to the silent Stellar Spirit beside her, she pointed up at the screen. "Wh-wha…that…you-"

Hikari raised an eyebrow. "You said I could play tag."

* * *

Evening had fallen, and the team had packed up their belongings and split up to finish their travel preparations. Lucy and Happy had gone to collect the reward money, while Natsu and Hikari went to get tickets for the last train to Magnolia. Natsu had been on his guard when the strange Stellar Spirit had volunteered to come with him to buy the tickets, but he had relaxed a bit when she did nothing to him or his hair by the time they had finished their errand. His respite was short lived.

"You love her." It was a statement, not a question.

His rosy head snapped up to find golden eyes watching him next to the bench he was sitting on. Hikari was leaning against the train station wall next to his bench, looking down at him.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked apprehensively. He felt like squirming, but that made him feel too much like prey next to a bigger predator, so he managed to stop himself. Barely.

"You know exactly what I mean," Hikari replied, a shadow of a smirk at the corners of her mouth.

He turned his head to avoid eye contact, feeling cornered. "It's not any of your business."

Hikari allowed the smirk to fully form, eyes dancing wickedly. "Do you want me to tell her that you were awake during the whole train ride?"

Natsu's face paled a bit at the suggestion, I.E. blatant threat, and metaphorically backed up. There was no telling how Lucy would react to something like that. Natsu's cheek throbbed in remembered pain from Lucy's fist from just days ago. "…Fine." He muttered unwillingly. "I do."

"Do you mind telling me what brought this on? You're not the type to notice these things unless they're shoved in your face with a bomb attached. I'm actually surprised you haven't told her yet." Her golden eyes seemed to see more than they should as they sighted on his face like a hunting bird's. Natsu had to look down, not just because her gaze was unnerving, normally he would stare straight back into stares like that and face them head on, but this confession was something outside of any experience he had had. He gritted his teeth as he began.

"When I saw her in that hot spring, looking as if she was dead, it made me panic. I kept thinking _'I can't lose her. Not Lucy'_. It was even worse than the time with Lisana." His fists clenched tightly on his legs. "I just wanted to see the living Lucy, seeing her smile and laugh, not all cold and limp. I don't know if she would continue to smile at me the way she does now if I told her."

"Scary, isn't it, when you realize the mortality of those close to you," Hikari said softly.

Something in her voice made Natsu look up at her. She stared back at him with unfathomable golden eyes, filled with more grief and pain than any should have the right to hold. "Cherish this time, little dragon. You never know which moment could be the last."

Stunned, Natsu stared up into her face as she turned it to the station entrance. Her expression seemed to become even more painful for a moment before morphing into its usual slightly mischievous smile, raising her hand in a wave. Natsu looked and spotted Lucy and Happy running towards them with grins on their faces, waving back. "But seriously, you can be really dense, though she is too. Don't wait too long, or it may become out of reach."

* * *

The clink of the chains and soft breathing were the only noise in the dark cell. Flickers of light flashed across all planes of the small room, originating from the assorted magical seals placed on the walls, floor, ceiling, and door. The sole occupant was lying on his back with his head resting on his arms on the rickety old cot against the far wall, perfectly in view of the small, barred window in the steel door. His blue hair fell into dark brown eyes as he stared up at the ceiling.

It was hard to tell how long he had been in this cell for, but as far as he could tell it had been some time. Gerard Fernandez didn't mind, because even though it was mind numbingly boring, he knew he had earned this. After being taken into the Magic Council's custody, he had been told all of his previous crimes about infiltrating the council, firing Etherion, and the Tower of Paradise in greater detail than what Erza had managed to tell him. This was the only way he knew how to make up for his crimes and not still run the risk of causing destruction again if he ever turned evil. His only regret was that he couldn't see Erza again. Or at the very least remember her and the time they had spent together. He closed his eyes, knowing that it was very likely never going to recover his memory, especially if the Council had anything to say about it. Which they did, as they were the only ones who could commission a specialist to research the effects of the Etherion on him while he was a high security prisoner.

As he was lost in these musings he had had so many times he had lost count, a voice broke the routine silence, coming not from the corridor, but from inside the cell with him. "Hey, I need you to come with me."

Gerard jolted from the bed and into a fighting position out of instinct before the echo was finished. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" he demanded of the figure he could just make out in the shadows of the corner to the right of the cell door. He raised his handcuffed fists slightly, ready to defend himself if need be.

The person stepped from the concealing darkness and approached Gerard a few steps, resolving into a cloaked figure a few inches shorter than him and spoke again. "I don't expect you to remember me, but we've met before." Though the voice was husky, it was undoubtedly female.

"That doesn't answer my questions," he said tensely. Where were the guards? Surely they had been alerted to the breach. And if this was one of his old acquaintances, one powerful enough to break into this cell enforced with every imaginable high class restraining and protection spells, then he had to guess this was a person he didn't want to meet again.

"I'm not going to make you do something like that tower thing again." She sounded disgusted at the very thought, making his thoughts stop in their tracks. How had she known…? "Look," she sighed, placing her knuckles against her hip, revealing part of a black sleeve and black leather gloves covering the only limb visible beneath her cloak. "I want you to help me stop the people who _would_ make you do that again." She muttered quietly, almost as if to herself. "I didn't think they'd be moving again this fast."

Even without any basis for it, Gerard found himself believing her. She sounded too sincere when she had answered his unasked question. Disgust was a hard emotion to replicate on that level. And there was a part of him that seemed to be saying _'trust her'_.

Still, he had to make sure that it wasn't just some subtle magic at work here. Squinting, he tried to make out the face under the hood, but it was useless. Her face was shrouded in the shadows of the hood. He could feel himself being scrutinized in return.

"Hey," she began. "Why are you taking the responsibility of everything upon yourself? You do know you were possessed at the time, right?"

"Even if I was, that doesn't change the fact that I'm the one who did those terrible things," Gerard said bitterly, looking away.

"True," she said slowly. "But you would never have even thought of committing those crimes without Zeref's influence." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back on one leg. "In fact, you fought him every inch of the way, and the only reason that it became as bad as it did was because he managed to twist your perceptions enough that you thought what you were doing would protect those closest to you. And in the end, things didn't turn out how those around you have said they did." She said cryptically.

Gerard stared at this woman who had broken into his prison without effort in stunned amazement. "How do you know all this about me?"

"I told you, we've met before. Twice, in fact." The grin was obvious in her voice. "Of course, neither times were when you were at your best, but my specialty is judging a person's character. And you, Gerard, are one of the strongest and kindest souls I've seen."

Gerard blinked, but mentally shook himself to get back on track to the matter at had. "Why are you asking me? Aren't there more appropriate people to help you?"

"Who better to help me than someone privy to their plans, albeit in a roundabout way?"

"I don't remember anything about that!" Gerard practically shouted at her. He had enough trouble convincing the Council that he really couldn't remember anything; he didn't need this person trying to interrogate him too.

"That's why I'll return your memories to you," the cloaked woman said calmly. "Ah, but when I do, don't go wallowing in guilt or anything. What's done is done, and you've already died for your sins once. If you want to make up for them still, then work towards making sure another victim like you isn't created by the ones who orchestrated your creation. Anyway, I'm taking you with me whether you want to or not, but I'd rather you came with me by choice."

He didn't have it in him to be insulted by her assumption; he knew she was right. If she really wanted to, there was nothing he could do to stop her with all the restraining magic projected at him. So he asked again, but this time it was hushed with a sense of hope instead of harsh with dread. "Who are you?"

"Later. I don't have much time left. So are you coming willingly or not?" She said as she shook her hooded head.

He stood there a moment with clenched fists, but he had already made his decision at the promise of his returned memories. He lifted his head to look straight at where her eyes should be. "Alright."

"That's a good look in your eyes. Never lose it." Gerard could hear the smile in her voice. She strode over to him and inspected his handcuffs. This close, he could faintly make out the bottom half of her face, just enough to see her mouth and the end of her nose. There must be some kind of glamour or spell on the cloak to hide her appearance, he thought. He focused back on her at her snort of derision, before she neatly snapped the handcuffs in half on both loops. Gerard's mouth dropped open. Those handcuffs had been reinforced with magic to prevent tampering and breaks. And she had just crumpled them like they were ordinary twigs!

"Okay, time to go! Hold on tight," she said cheerfully as she grasped Gerard's forearms.

"Wait, what's your goal to stop them?" he asked, the vague 'them' meaning the dark mages who had used Gerard as a peon, as the shadows converged around them.

Gerard couldn't be certain, but he thought he saw a flash of fangs in her brief grin. "Waking the dragons."

* * *

**I know the official spelling is Jellal, but I like Gerard better. Plus it doesn't play havoc on my spell check. If you have any comments or concerns, I'd love to hear them. I might answer some things in the next chapter, but no promises, especially if the answers give away the plot. I have a goal of getting 100 reviews by the time this story is finished, so I hope you will all help me out!**

**~Moonlight Through the Water**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again, readers! Whew, this chapter was a monster to write, but I enjoyed every minute of it! I hope you all like it, too!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs soley to Hiro Mashima, only this story and OC's are mine**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Five

It was a typical cheery day at Fairy Tail's guild hall, all of its occupants going about their daily routine. All but one.

Seriousness surrounded the table Natsu currently had his head slumped onto, creating a small island in the guild's cheerful atmosphere. Only Lucy and Happy sat with him, all others being warded off by the frown on his face. Happy openly stared, worried at his best friend, while Lucy sent frequent glances at him out of the corner of her eyes, having been on the same page of her book for at least half an hour. Still, Natsu didn't notice the unease he was creating by his unusual behavior, he was too deep in his contemplation of Lucy's new Stellar Spirit.

Even before the mission they had all taken together, there had been something bothering him about her, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Frustrated, his frown deepened as he ran through possibilities in his head. None seemed possible, getting more out of hand with each new idea. He had come up with the theory that she was a malevolent demon king bent on the world's destruction and rubber duckies when it hit him with the force of one of Erza's punches. And that discovery shocked him to the core.

She didn't have a scent. That didn't make sense, _everything_ had a scent, but no matter how many times he recalled the moments around her, he couldn't associate any scent to her. All of Lucy's other spirits had a scent, distinct to each of them, just like everything else that lived in this world.

"Lu-chan!"

Levi's voice broke through his brooding when she almost tripped on an uneven board on the floor in her haste to reach his and Lucy's table, her stack of books wobbling hazardously in her arms, unable to spread them for balance for fear of the damage to come to the dusty tomes. Lucy and Natsu could only watch in horror as the blue haired bookworm fell forward, Happy covering his mouth with both paws.

Levi's eyes squeezed shut, gritting her teeth and bracing for impact. It never came. Instead she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, while its companion steadied the pile of books miraculously still in her arms. She cautiously peeked one eye open, and then the other when all that she was met with was a black shirt with a ruffled neckline. She looked up at her rescuers face and grinned in grateful relief. "Thanks, Gajeel."

"Don't mention it," he grunted, settling her back on her feet and straightening out her stack of books.

"Good catch," Pantherlily said approvingly, coming up behind the steel dragonslayer, making Gajeel grin in self satisfaction.

"Are you alright, Levi-chan?" Lucy exclaimed, hurrying up to her friend and grabbing a couple of the topmost books to lighten her load.

"I'm fine, Lu-chan. More than fine. I found it!" Levi's brown eyes gleamed with the fervor of her discovery.

"Eh?" Lucy blinked. "Found what?"

"Some information on that black key you asked me to look into." Levi replied, undaunted by the blonde's momentary lapse of memory.

"Oh!" Lucy said in comprehension. She wasn't the only one listening now. Natsu and Happy perked up at the topic, and Gajeel and Lily turned their attention to the girls, curious.

Levi set her tower of books on the table, Lucy following suit, and immediately grabbed a book out of the stack and sat down to crack it open. Everyone gathered around her as she bent over the text, muttering to herself under her breath.

Lucy realized that there seemed to be something missing, and glanced around. "Levi-chan, where are Jet and Droy?" It was odd to not see her blue haired friend's human shadows with her.

"They're passed out at the library. They were helping me with my research," she mumbled distractedly, flipping through pages of a particularly old and crumbly book with care. With a triumphant exclamation she ceased her flipping, jabbing her index finger down at the page. "Ah ha! Here it is!"

All of her audience leaned in to hear what she had found.

"Have any of you heard of the island of Subsea?" Levi looked up to catch all of them nodding their heads but Pantherlily, as he had only come to Earthland recently.

"Wasn't it that ancient island that vanished without a trace?" Lucy questioned hesitantly.

"Right." Levi nodded in confirmation of her statement. "But it didn't vanish, it sunk."

"But what does that have to do with the key?" Happy piped up from his perch on Natsu's head.

"I was getting to that," Levi said. "Anyway, there aren't many books anymore that chronicle the true stories of Subsea as they are over two millennia old, but I managed to find this one after I remembered a brief reference to a key that fit the description of yours, Lu-chan, that I had read in this book before." Lucy's breath caught. How old was Hikari? She didn't have time to ponder that train of thought long before Levi continued. "It says in here that the last known reference, and maybe the only one, of that key was from the court scribe on the last day the island was still floating. It was hard to make out exactly what he meant since he was supposedly drunk when he wrote this, but it seems like the key was tied up in the cause of the sinking of the island."

Everyone was silent as they absorbed this piece of information in varying states of emotions.

"Ah," That small sound from behind Lucy drew all the eyes of the group. Hikari stood a pace behind her summoner, looking as if she had been leaning over the blonde's shoulder just moments before and looked faintly resigned. "I was hoping no one would remember that."

Gajeel, Levi, and Lily all were startled at the new arrival, as they had never met the spirit before, and the dragonslayer and exsheed were tensing in preparation for a fight, as both were unnerved that they hadn't noticed her entrance. The members of Team Natsu, however, had different reactions. Lucy looked sternly at her spirit, like a teacher expecting a prompt answer, while Natsu and Happy watched, the cat in curiosity and the human intently. "Hikari, what happened on that island? Were you really involved with Subsea?"

Hikari looked slightly embarrassed as she smiled sheepishly at Lucy. "Remember that story I told you about my experience with alcohol? Guess where it happened."

There was a momentary silence as all of them tried to puzzle through that answer, but only two of them knew what she meant. Lucy's eyes widened. "Ehhh? You-?"

Hikari stuffed a roll of bread in her mouth, effectively silencing her. "Mmrff!" Lucy tried to protest.

"Don't give yourself a heart attack, Lucy." Hikari chuckled. "Besides it all worked out in the end. And this information qualifies as 'classified', so keep it to yourself, 'kay?"

Chewing on the roll, Lucy felt grateful that her mouth was full so that she couldn't blurt out any embarrassing comments, especially if they could get her in trouble with the spirit world. It also gave her a convenient excuse not to have to answer the curious looks on her guildmates faces as they watched the master and spirit interaction. She could just feel their stares boring into her back.

"Who the hell are you?" Gajeel demanded, having relaxed slightly since the bunny girl seemed to know the woman.

Hikari stepped right up in Gajeel's face and grabbed hold of one of his nostril piercings, with a sharp smirk. "That's not a nice way of asking a person's name, little boy. Would you like me to pull those screws out, hmm?" She tugged deliberately on the metal between her fingers, the iron dragonslayer noticeably paling.

"Ah- I mean… who are you, ma'am?" His voice came out slightly nasally.

"Very good," she said, patting his cheek with the hand she had just used to threaten his piercing. The other, wisely, either by design or surprise, didn't interfere throughout the exchange. "I'm Hikari. Nice to meet you Gajeel, Levi, and cat I don't know."

"Pantherlily," the black exsheed offered cordially from beside Gajeel, apparently unruffled with her threatening his dragonslayer partner. Maybe he thought Gajeel needed some manners too, since he had worked for royalty for so long, Lucy reasoned silently.

Hikari grinned down at him, eyes friendly.

"How'd you know our names? And how did you get in here?" Levi wondered, curiosity overtaking caution, especially since she seemed nicer now.

Hikari blinked at her, replying, "I came about the time you tripped, so I heard everything, even your names. As for how I got here," she shrugged. "I'm Lucy's Stellar Spirit. I just popped in."

Levi's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she sized up the golden eyed spirit. "You're the spirit of that black key, aren't you? You don't seem like a normal Stellar Spirit. Are you going to do anything bad to Lu-chan?"

Grinning, Hikari turned to Lucy, pointing at Levi. "I like her." Bringing her attention back to the blue haired mage she replied, "No, I'm here to look after her, and if need be, protect her."

A shadow flashed briefly through her eyes for a moment, and Lucy was sure it was because of the dangerous nature of her contract. After all, she had already made it clear to Lucy that she didn't have to say anything she didn't want to. She probably didn't want anyone besides Lucy to know about that little tidbit of information, maybe because she could tell how badly her _nakama_ would take it.

Apparently satisfied with that answer, Levi nodded and started to pack up her books for the return trip to her room at the girl's dorm.

While the girls had set up their own discussion without them, Gajeel had quietly retreated to stand next to Natsu, and muttered to him. "Why's our guild full of scary women?"

Natsu just shrugged. "I don't know."

"Aye," Happy agreed while Lily just crossed his arms stoically.

Meanwhile, Lucy had pulled her spirit partner off to the side, having swallowed the last of the roll.

"I thought you said that drunken thing happened in the Spirit World!" Lucy hissed.

"It did. I just happened to open up a gate later on, and that's where I came out at." Hikari looked off to the side muttering, "It's also the reason I can only come to this world with a contract. Once I'm here, I'm my summoner's problem. So take good care of me." She grinned mischievously at Lucy.

"But an ISLAND? How can I stop you from sinking another one?" Lucy wailed in frustration, managing to keep her tone low enough that no one should overhear.

"Just don't let me get drunk, simple." Lucy started to open her mouth to retort, so Hikari added seriously, "You also have the privilege of absolute command since you're my contractor, you just have to make sure to use both conviction and magic so it will be binding."

The blonde felt a little better at that, but also overwhelmed to have that kind of control over another person. It was starting to make her head spin just thinking about it.

Hikari seemed to have picked up on it and gave her a half smile, patting her on the head. "Don't worry about it, little one. I trust you."

Blinking back tears of gratitude, Lucy smiled widely at the trust she was being given. It made her want to live up to it, and beyond. "Thanks," she said simply.

Hikari's half smile widen, becoming a warm sisterly smile. Then she glanced over at the cluster of males and Levi still stacking her books alone and her expression darkened into a frown.

"You two!" Hikari barked. "Gajeel, help Levi carry her books. Natsu, come here for a minute."

Both Gajeel and Natsu straightened as one, doing an almost perfect imitation of soldiers standing at attention before a superior officer. "Yes, sir!" they shouted in unison.

There was this instinctual urge to just do whatever she said, no matter what, for the two dragon raised teens. Both dragonslayers exchanged glances, mentally conveying in a rare burst of insight to go over this later, as well as the unnatural intimidation. Then both hopped to their respective posts.

Levi shot the spirit and Lucy a grateful grin as she led Gajeel and Pantherlily out of the guild, load much more bearable this time around than when she had first come.

"So, what did you want?" Natsu asked cautiously. There was no telling what was going on in the dark haired spirit's mind, especially for one as dense to other's feelings as Natsu.

"Ah, nothing, I just wanted to see the two of you jump," Hikari said cheerfully.

Lucy bit back a laugh as Natsu pouted. "That wasn't fair."

"Your point?"

The fire mage opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a shout.

"Oi! Natsu! Lucy! Who's your friend?" All turned to see Gray making his way towards them, Juvia just behind him. Lucy could already see her adding Hikari to her 'Rivals for Gray-sama's Heart' list. Finally the two moisture based mages reached the quartet, as Happy had settled again on Natsu's shoulder.

Gray grinned at the golden eyed woman and introduced himself. "I'm Gray Fullbuster. Who are you?"

While Juvia's glare intensified from behind Gray's shoulder, she still remembered her manners as a proud member of Fairy Tail. "I am Juvia."

Hikari had the oddest look on her face, almost blankly thoughtful, as she stared between Gray and Juvia for a moment. Lucy knew that look. It was the same one that she had on when she first met Natsu and Happy. Both of them obviously remembered it too. Natsu felt the blood drain from his face and felt the urge to hide behind Lucy. Happy gave in to that urge, whipping behind the blonde, peeking out above her shoulder.

Before either new arrivals could truly grasp the strange reactions of their _nakama_, Hikari spun Gray around till he was facing Juvia and then pushed his head down, resulting in a kiss between water and ice mages.

Gray was frozen in shock, while Lucy, Natsu, and Happy's jaws dropped to the floor, as well as all the other members of the guild present, who until now hadn't seemed to notice the members of the strongest team until Hikari's little matchmaking-by-force.

Juvia felt like fainting on the spot, feeling a nosebleed coming on. It was her first kiss with Gray-sama! But wait, there may never be another chance like this; Juvia must seize what she can get! With that thought in mind, Juvia clamped her arms tightly around Gray-sama, locking them in place as she deepened the kiss.

Poor Gray, finally resurfacing from whatever world his mind had spaced out to, started flailing about in Juvia's iron hold making muffled noises, whether pleasure noises or cries for help, each guild member came up with their own interpretation on the matter. But most everyone began cat-calls and whistles at the couple.

The Stellar Spirit summoner looked up at her spirit, pretty face slack, and pointed wordlessly at the couple at the center of the guild's attention.

"What? They look good together." Hikari asked obliviously.

Lucy just felt resigned. If it wasn't her teammates that Hikari was playing with, it would have been funny. Well, maybe she did feel a slight bit like laughing, but she would never admit it, even under pain of death. Otherwise she had a feeling Gray would never let her live this down.

Natsu, however, had no such compunctions. He burst out laughing so hard he doubled over, clutching his stomach as tears came into his eyes. Happy joined him on the floor as they rolled around in excess amusement.

When they were finally finished, both stood up, still shaking a bit from stifled chuckles, and Hikari caught Natsu's eye. She raised an eyebrow at him, and then looked meaningfully at Lucy, who had gone to the bar to talk to Mirajane, and then back to him. The message was clear. They were next, if Natsu didn't tell Lucy soon. Natsu gulped. He just hoped she gave him time to work out how to do it.

* * *

Lucy was about ready to head home after the incident with Gray and Juvia had died down, and everyone had started to back off to give the two room to sort out what had happened and what would happen next. Strangely enough, no one seemed to notice Hikari, as she seemed to have vanished shortly after Mirajane had called Lucy over.

As she was about to get up off her barstool, she felt a gauntlet clad hand close around her shoulder. Lucy looked up into the familiar brown eyes of Erza, stunned to see them looking wide and lost. "Erza?" she asked hesitantly.

"Can I talk to you for a moment alone, Lucy?" Was it just her, or did her voice tremble slightly?

"Um, sure, Erza." Lucy got up and followed her redheaded friend into the girl's washroom, Erza locking the door behind them. Lucy stood patiently in front of the sinks while Erza started pacing the length of the room. When the silence became too unbearable, Lucy began. "Erza-"

"Gerard's gone." It was flatly stated, filled with no emotion whatsoever. It was too emotionless to be believed.

"How?" Lucy whispered, shocked.

"I-they-we don't know." Panic started to leak through the carefully emotionless tone, as hairline cracks began to show in Erza's calm façade. "They think someone broke him out. There was no sign of a struggle, but his cuffs were broken off, not picked, or opened. Broken, with twisted marks and everything." Her voice sped up the longer she talked, the volume mirroring the speed until she was shouting. "They can't find traces of magic use, and no one saw or heard anything. The guards weren't even poisoned or put to sleep. And I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS OR WHAT TO DO!"

"Erza! Erza calm down!" Lucy rushed up to her friend, who was visibly shaking as she collapsed on the ground, tears finally falling. The blonde put her arms around her friend as she clung to her, sobbing. Lucy just made soothing noises and smoothed her long hair, body on autopilot even as her mind was whirling.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Erza finally pulled herself together, brusquely rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, mumbling, "…sorry…"

"It's all right." Lucy looked tentatively down at the woman sitting in front of her and asked. "Erza? Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine, Lucy. Thank you." Erza smiled tiredly at the blonde. She took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to react that way. I hope I did not startle you."

"I'm actually kind of surprised that you didn't come running into the guild in a frenzy." Lucy admitted. "I would have expected you to demand a search for him immediately."

Erza smiled humorlessly. "I did. I was with the master when the news came, and he managed to get me to calm down enough to think about this rationally. But I still needed to talk to another girl about this. Thank you, Lucy. You are the only female friend of mine that has met him, and I knew you wouldn't react like Natsu or Gray."

Lucy smiled a bit at that, and Erza's smile became more genuine. It didn't last long, though. It dropped off her face as suddenly as wet paint in the rain, and she gazed down at the floor, looking suddenly like a lost child.

"He wouldn't have left without a good reason. He handed himself over to the Council, after all," Erza chuckled bitterly. She looked up at Lucy, suddenly fierce. "I trust him, Lucy. He wouldn't have left without a fight unless it was for a good reason."

Lucy smiled reassuringly at her friend, glad to see her starting to come back to her old self. "And I trust your judgment. He didn't seem like a bad person when I met him, either." She paused, thinking through an idea that just popped into her head. Brightening, she grinned at her friend's confused face. "Let's go on a mission tomorrow. We'll pick one that can help you get your mind off this, and if you can't, we can take a detour on the way back to look for clues about Gerard. What do you think?" Lucy asked hopefully.

Her reward was a watery, albeit real smile. "That sounds like a good plan."

* * *

Lucy wished she had brought a warmer jacket as she and Natsu walked back to her apartment, shivering. He had caught her on her way out the door after she had made sure Erza was settled safely at the bar with Mira. If there was anyone who could help Erza more right now, it would be the white haired idol of Fairy Tail.

Warmth surrounded her suddenly as she felt large, warm hands wrap something soft around her neck. Startled, she looked up to meet Natsu's dark jade eyes as he finished transferring his treasured scarf to her and pulled his hands back.

"You were shivering," he said with a lopsided grin in explanation. That unusual intensity was back in his eyes again, making Lucy's insides do flips.

"…Oh. Thanks," she said quietly. She wrapped herself more firmly into the fabric, trying to find some way to distract herself from her sudden uncomfortableness with Natsu. It wasn't helping much. She was still all too aware of his burning presence striding next to her. So she tried another tactic: conversation. "Where's Happy?" she asked.

"He's back at the guild with the others; he didn't want to leave yet. I told him I'd walk you home and then come back and pick him up, since you tend to fall in the river when you walk home alone," he joked, grinning.

Lucy mock jabbed him in the ribs, glad the atmosphere was back to normal. "That was your fault, idiot! I wouldn't have fallen in if you hadn't startled me!" she huffed.

Natsu just laughed, and Lucy felt that feeling in her gut again, though this time it was just a pleasant buzz. They laughed and joked, talking about inconsequential things until they reached Lucy's apartment, helping her forget the chaos that had happened to her today. Natsu walked her all the way up to her door where she turned to face him once again.

"Goodnight, Natsu," Lucy said, suddenly unable to meet his eyes as she felt an unwelcome blush stain her cheeks. She could feel his eyes on her face as he stared at her until she looked up and met his eyes, and was rewarded with a grin that made her heart pound a little harder.

"'Night, Luce." He stayed for a moment longer, then turned and headed back to the guild.

Lucy closed the door and leaned against it. What the heck was that?

* * *

Natsu found Gajeel in a quiet corner of the guild, Pantherlily absent from the iron dragonslayer's side. He looked up at the flame mage's approach, nodding in acknowledgement of his presence as Natsu took a seat at the small table.

"You felt that too, didn't you? With that weird spirit woman?" Gajeel asked suddenly.

Natsu had been waiting for that comment to confirm his suspicions. "Yeah. I didn't even pick a fight with her when I first met her, even though I normally would have. It was like something was preventing me from going against her, and I felt… intimidated by her, I guess."

"It felt a lot like when Metallica would forbid me to do something, or when he wanted me to be obedient when he was in one of his 'moods'." Gajeel said quietly.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I only felt it a few times, but Igneel called it 'dragonfear'."

They both mulled over that in silence for a moment, before Gajeel tentatively broke it with one might have described as barely concealed hope in his voice. "Do you think she might know anything about them?"

"We'll have to ask her about it." Natsu paused, and then said. "Lucy might be able to get it out of her, since she is Hikari's master."

Gajeel grinned, fangs showing through. "You'll have to ask her, since she doesn't like me much."

"Yeah. I just hope she does know something about them." Neither voiced it, but both knew that they were each thinking about their respective dragon parents.

Natsu grinned suddenly, his own fangs prominently displayed as he taunted. "You look like you just lost your cat, metal head."

"Bring it on, fire idiot!"

And with that, Natsu jumped over the table, starting a good natured brawl that the whole guild enjoyed watching, until Erza came and broke it up, lecturing them on destroying the guild. Gray accidentally knocked over the redhead's precious strawberry cake though as he was trying to suppress his snickers at his rival's predicament. It all went downhill from there.

* * *

Shadows cast by the tombstones in the fading light gave a surreal effect to the graveyard. All was silent and serene, the statues silent sentinels of this hallowed final resting place. The only inhabitants left were the small nocturnal animals that made this place their home and two figures that stepped from the shadows of a weeping willow tree.

One was taller than the other by a few inches, and though slender, obviously a man. The other was more ambiguous in their shape as they were wrapped in a black cloak.

The male flipped back the concealing hood on their long, dark jacket, revealing a shock of blue hair and a distinctive tattoo on their face.

"What are we doing here?" Gerard asked quietly, feeling the weight of presence in this place. His companion walked forward to a particular grave, kneeling at its feet.

She reached out to touch the name carved into the tombstone, the stone angel smiling gently down on her and her companion. "Saying goodbye to an old friend." She straightened slowly, keeping her eyes on the name etched forever on the stone. "And fulfilling a promise."

Gerard watched her solemnly for a moment, and then bent to pay his respects to the person the headstone stood for. He had heard about her from his comrade, and she deserved all the respect she could get. Especially since only those involved in her death and him knew what truly happened on that day. She would never get a hero's memorial or recognition, but he had a feeling she would have wanted it that way. It certainly fit with his companion's mentality, and she had been the deceased woman's friend and partner for years, quietly fading into the shadows of history.

Respects paid, he lifted his head to find the woman next to him smiling at him, before she ruffled his hair. "Go back to the hideout. I have something to take care of first."

Gerard hesitated, wanting to protest, but he bit them back and nodded. Turning, he vanished back into the shadows they had arrived in.

Alone now, the cloaked woman once more turned back to the grave. "I promised I'd look after her for you, and I intend to. Don't worry, even though it's been so long since that day, I will make sure that she doesn't suffer the same fate as you." She paused, seeming to listen to something more than the breeze and laughed softly. "Alright. Goodnight, Layla." And like Gerard before her, she melted into the waiting shadows.

All that was witness to her departure now was the silent serenity of the graveyard and the ever watchful moon and stars.

_

* * *

_

Lucy ran down the long, ornate halls of her home, short legs churning against the air that suddenly seemed to be the same consistency of thick syrup. Her lungs couldn't seem to find enough air as she panted along down the hall. Mom was in her study alone, and she wanted to see if she would tuck her in to bed tonight since she had been a good girl that day, and not bothered Father at all.

_After what seemed like hours, Lucy finally made it to the study door, and was about to open it when she heard the murmur of voices. Instead, she pressed her ear against the keyhole, recognizing the voices to be her mother and -._

"…_I'm sorry." That was –'s voice. Lucy felt a moment's surprise mingled with unease that she hadn't noticed that Lucy was at the door. She ALWAYS knew when someone was there, no matter how well they were hidden. Lucy had been caught by her so many times, even after – had taught her how to hide effectively, so that no one else could find her when she didn't want them to. And Lucy had never heard her speak in that tone of voice before. She was always so confident._

_All this swept through little Lucy's mind in an instant before she was broken from further analysis by her mother's voice. "Don't be. This is the path I chose. Just remember to keep your promise. Look after my daughter."_

_Lucy didn't understand. Why wouldn't – look after her, they were best friends! She had been there for as long as Lucy could remember, sneaking with her around the mansion, looking for secret passages and dragons, and playing pranks on the staff. She couldn't imagine a life without her surrogate big sister._

"_It's time to go, Layla."_

_Lucy felt her blood run cold. Both Mom and – were leaving? No! They couldn't leave her here all alone, with only Father! Lucy wanted to go with them._

_She wrenched the door open as fast as her small hands could, crying, "No!"_

_But it was too late. They were gone, and Lucy collapsed to the floor in tears, sobbing her heart out. A piece of paper fluttered against her cheek, sticking to the salty wetness until Lucy pulled it down. The numbers 7-7-777 were forever etched into her memory as she stared at that piece of paper, feeling the tears start to pour again._

_Faintly, she felt a light caress on her head, like someone was petting her hair before she fell into the oblivion of dreamless slumber once more._

* * *

As Lucy slept, tossing and turning in her sleep, sometimes whimpering quietly as she dreamed, a cloaked figure coalesced from the shadows of her bedroom. The woman from the graveyard walked silently to the girl in the bed, and sat down next to her restless form. Reaching out a gentle, gloved hand, she brushed the hair back the blonde bangs on Lucy's forehead.

Lucy instantly quieted at her touch, relaxing even more as the woman started finger combing her hair. "Just a little longer. Please just remain innocent of this for a little longer."

The woman clenched her free hand on her thigh, as she battled some emotion inside of her. Finally, she rose from the bed and with a last gentle pat on the head said, "Sweet dreams, little one." And was gone between one moment and the next.

* * *

**This has probably been the hardest chapter for me to write so far, and I know Erza is probably horribly out of character (I was at first going to make her barge into the guild with the news, but this fits better, plus it's late and I'm tired), but I did my best. Also, I have been wanting to put that scene with Gray and Juvia in here before this story was even started (Mwa ha ha ha!), so I'm gald I could fit it. And the last chapter of Fairy Tail was awesome, I just knew Gajeel and Levi were meant to be together, so their appearance here is for Chapter 210, even though I had already planned Levi's reapperance. Anyway, I'll stop my sleep-depraved babbling now!**

**Questions, comments, concerns, opinions? All are welcome!**

**~Moonlight Through the Water**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, I really had no intention of taking this long, but a lot of other things topped fanfiction as a priority. I've had this about half finished for months now and it's been driving me crazy not finishing it, so I'm glad it's finally done. And it's my longest chapter yet. Enjoy!**

**As a side note I have been getting a lot of questions about the nature of Hikari's summons and I would like to clear this up. Yes, it is dangerous for the FULL sommoning with the incantation and all; but she has an informal summon similar to Loki's where she can cross over on her own like him as long as she has an active contract and summoner, and this seals a good portion of her powers that cause the fast magic drain that can be fatal for prolonged periods. It was explained in Chapter 2 with Horologium. Sorry for any confusion.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

The blaring of Lucy's alarm jolted her awake early the next morning, sending her crashing off the bed in a heap of blankets and sheets. Groaning, partly in pain and partly in annoyance, Lucy levered herself up into a kneeling position, still cocooned in her blankets, and turned off the alarm with a solid smack.

It took a moment for the fog of sleep to dissipate from her mind to remember why she had set her alarm so early (the birds had barely begun their morning song), when Erza's tearstained face flashed through her mind. That alone was enough incentive to venture out of her warm little nest and start her morning ritual of bathing, dressing, and eating without complaint. She locked up her apartment, grabbed the suitcase she had packed in preparation the night before, and headed off to the guild.

* * *

Erza's red head was camped out in from of the notice board, watching the entrance like a hawk when Lucy walked in, sighting in on her immediately. Lucy started to make her way to Erza even before she flagged her down.

"Lucy, good you're here," Erza greeted her. She had her usual mountain of luggage next to her. Lucy vaguely wondered if she would survive it toppling on her if it leaned just a _little_ more to the left…

Lucy shook her head, sending her blonde locks flying as well as her irrelevant and morbid thoughts, focusing once more on her surroundings, excluding Erza's baggage. "Where are Natsu and Gray?" she asked, not having spotted either a distinctive lack of clothing or pink head in the guild yet.

"They haven't arrived yet." Erza began to frown in displeasure.

Sensing impending danger for her two male and cat _nakama_, Lucy quickly covered for them. "I'm sure they're on their way." Hurry up! She thought. Or else you guys will get a beating!

Erza seemed to be appeased by her explanation, and nodded decisively. "I will give them five more minutes to get here."

Lucy sighed in relief, grateful that Erza had calmed down. After a moment too long of silence, Lucy felt that something was wrong with Erza. She glanced back up at her friend and noticed that she was staring broodingly off into a deserted corner. It dawned on the blonde that Erza was still worried over the matter with Gerard.

"Erz-," Lucy began, but was cut off by two familiar raised voices.

"Out of the way, ash for brains!"

"_You_ get out of _my_ way, droopy eyes!"

Both females turned toward the commotion and there were their missing teammates, Natsu and Gray grinding their foreheads together as they ran, not paying attention to their surroundings and almost mowing non-guild member patrons, so as to glare at each other more easily. Happy floated contentedly above their heads, used to this routine from the two rivals-slash-friends.

Lucy's brown eyes rounded, glancing quickly between Erza and the two fighting mages speeding there way here, she sidled off to the far side of Erza. She couldn't help them now, so she might as well put herself out of danger.

Happy noticed the two young women before the either mage, noted Erza's frown and Lucy almost hidden behind Erza's luggage, and swooped down to Lucy's waiting arms.

"Not going to warn them, Happy?" Lucy asked absently, eyes still glued to the scene in front of her.

"Aye," the little blue exsheed nodded, also watching their teammates. "Erza's already spotted them."

When Gray and Natsu finally noticed their companions, and so Erza's glower, they skidded to a halt a couple feet in front of the armored mage. "E-Erza!" They exclaimed in unison, faces paling and exaggerated expressions of surprise and horror were comical to the spectators. They braced themselves for the inevitable pounding…but it never came.

Instead Erza just said, "We're going to be late for the train. Let's get going." And the proceeded to pull her baggage behind her.

Both couples of _nakama_ were shocked. Normally Gray and Natsu would at least get a thump on the head for openly fighting with each other in Erza's presence, but she just ignored it and walked away. Natsu was so shocked he didn't even react to the mention of a moving vehicle.

As all four trailed in Erza's wake, Gray leaned over and whispered to Lucy. "What's wrong with Erza?"

The blonde could only shake her head mutely. Gerard's disappearance was Erza's secret to tell, and she wouldn't break her friend's confidence in choosing to tell her out of all the others she could have.

None of the team noticed the figure that broke from the shadows to follow them.

* * *

The clacking of the train was punctuated by the sound of Natsu being violently ill. Lucy was fervently grateful she had thought to bring a bucket for just this kind of occasion. Especially seeing as his head was in her lap again.

A clearing of her throat brought their attention to Erza, sitting across from Lucy with Gray to her left and the window to her right. "Our mission-" she began, but broke off, looking sharply to the door. Everyone else, with the exception of Natsu who had passed out on Lucy's lap, followed her gaze to the cabin's door just in time to see a shadow drop away from the window.

Gray, being the closest to the door currently able to stand, wrenched it open. And who it was froze him to the spot, his eyes wide with a curious mix of horror and relief.

"G-Gray-sama," Juvia whispered bashfully, averting her eyes. "He-Hello."

Seeing as Gray was speechless and seemed to have forgotten how to move, Lucy spoke up from her seat. "Why don't you come in, Juvia." She didn't see the point in asking why Juvia was here, it was fairly obvious. Wherever Gray went, Juvia was sure to follow.

She made a mental note to ask Hikari again later why she had shoved Gray onto Juvia.

Erza understood this too, but still had to clarify the reason, if only for Gray and Natsu's sake. So after Gray finally resumed his seat, this time next to the door and Juvia, she asked the inevitable. "Why are you here, Juvia?"

Juvia fidgeted uncomfortably as she answered honestly. "Juvia saw Gray-sama, Erza-san, and all of you leave together, and Juvia wished to join you."

"Of course!" Happy spoke up from his perch on Lucy's head. "You're our _nakama_!"

"Happy's correct," Erza said with a faint smile. "All you have to do is ask. And we still haven't had a mission with you since the Oración Seis."

Juvia's face brightened at their reassurances. "Really?"

Surprisingly it was Gray who answered with a weak but real grin. "Of course. You're always welcome with us."

Juvia's answering smile was radiant.

Running her fingers through Natsu's pink hair, Lucy felt content and secure with all of her precious _nakama_ surrounding her. Fairy Tail wasn't just friends, they were family.

"Ahem," Erza coughed, calling attention back to her. "I was just about to explain the mission when you came in, Juvia." The water mage nodded, face serious now that work was involved. "Now, the request is from the Duke of Sunsdale in Eastern Fíore."

Lucy twitched a little, startled. She knew the Duke through her father's work connections (Sunsdale was a huge city with just as huge a railway station owned by her family), but she was more familiar with his daughter, Jachina. They had been friends as children, shoved together when their fathers met to discuss business. But they grew apart as they grew older. Jackie, as was her preference, had been more interested in material matters than Lucy, and while she was still a good friend to her, they didn't have much in common any longer.

"There has been a series of kidnappings of young women this past week-" Lucy tensed, praying that Erza wasn't going to say what her gut was telling her she was, "-along with the Duke's eldest daughter, Jachina. In total, there are fifteen girls missing."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, looking down so no one would notice her severe reaction to the news.

Natsu's dark eyes stared up at her in concern, having been able to feel and see her reactions up close. His mouth opened, but Lucy shook her head minutely, mouthing 'later' down at him. He hesitated a moment, but nodded slightly a second later.

"They have been confirmed to be held at the dark guild Bloody Claws a few miles outside of the city limits." Erza continued, thankfully oblivious to the silent conversation on the opposite side of the cabin. "They believe the guild wishes to sell the girls to the Black Market."

Juvia gasped softly. "Those poor girls."

_Poor Jackie_, Lucy thought, her stomach twisting in a parody of Natsu just a little bit earlier.

Erza nodded in bitter agreement. "Our job is to infiltrate the guild, locate the girls, and safely take them out. After that, we are free to do as we wish with the guild."

"Crush them," came Natsu's soft voice, fierce with righteous fury.

Gray smiled savagely. "I can't wait to teach them a lesson they'll never forget."

Lucy nodded, not ready yet to speak without her voice wavering, but just as determined.

"Juvia will make them pay for doing that to women."

"I knew we would all agree, but we have to prioritize the hostages' safety first. That means no picking fights until all the girls are out of the guild. Understood?" The red headed mage looked warningly at Natsu and Gray. At their confirming nods, she reached into some hidden pocket and pulled out a scroll and what looked like four paper bookmarks with obscure symbols on them. She passed three out to Lucy, Happy, and Gray and keeping one for herself before rolling out the scroll, revealing it to be a map of the dark guild, explaining. "Those pieces of paper are spelled to be used to contact each other. Use them to contact the rest once when you've found the women, and second when you have brought them to safety." Everyone nodded. "Good. Now Gray and Juvia will take the east entrance, Natsu and Happy the west, I'll take the front and Lucy will take the back."

"Why is Lucy going through the back?" Happy asked, pouting a bit at not going through the more dangerous area.

"Because she is the least likely to cause a scene," Erza stated practically.

Happy still wasn't completely mollified, so Lucy attempted to entice him with something more exciting. "You and Natsu can pretend to be ninjas again."

"Ninjas? Nin nin!" Happy's eyes shone as he contorted his paws into a ninja-like pose, dissatisfaction already forgotten.

Lucy giggled at Happy's antics along with the rest, forgetting her concerns until the train came to its destination.

* * *

Bushes rustled adjacent to the north entrance of the Bloody Claws fortress. A blonde head suddenly burst out of the centermost bush, glancing side to side quickly. When she didn't see any signs of dark mages Lucy crept quietly out from under the foliage. Keeping her eyes locked on the door, she didn't notice the shadow rounding the opposite corner until it was too late to turn back, the door just inches from her outstretched fingertips.

Hands roughly grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth before she had a chance to scream. "Quiet, girlie, or I'll have to get a bit rough with you, if you catch my meaning," spoke an oily voice spoke close to her ear. Lucy stilled immediately, alternately cursing herself that she got caught so early on and trying to figure a way out of this mess. The dark guild member, because that was what he clearly was, continued on obliviously to Lucy's thoughts. "Well this is a lucky catch, the boss will be pleased. We were just short a girl for the pay off, too. And you are certainly a good catch." The Fairy Tail mage could just _feel_ the leer he was giving her generous bosom and curvy figure.

Lucy stiffened indignantly at his comments, rational and thought out plans going out the window as she acted on instinct. Jamming one three-inch, Heart Kruz brand leather boot heel into her assailant's toes, and taking advantage of his reflexive loosening of his arms, she twisted like a cat and shoved him against the brick wall. Fortunately, as luck had been the inspiration for her name and her nickname, Lady Luck always seemed to smile upon her in times like these and the man was knocked out cold against it.

Lucy panted slightly in front of him, giving a swift nudge to make sure he was truly out before relaxing and reaching down to her belt for a specific key in her collection. Finding it, she stated quietly, "Open, Gate to the Twins! Gemini!"

As the flash from the summoning disappeared, the two twin Stellar Spirits occupied the previously empty space. "Long time no see, Lucy!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Hello, Gemi, Mimi." Lucy smiled affectionately at her Spirits. They bounced over to her and hugged her legs. Not being able to resist, Lucy bent down to give the twins a hug with a huge grin. How could anyone not love Stellar Spirits? Aquarius popped into her mind, tidal wave at the ready, and it suddenly became clear, at least on Aquarius's part.

Giving herself a mental shake, she focused back on her mission and straightened. "Could you two transform into that man-" she gestured to the unconscious guild member off to the side, "-and see if he has any idea where some kidnapped girls are being kept?"

"Sure thing!" they responded, glowing and coalescing into the man who had attacked her. After a pause, the Stellar Spirits/mage answered. "The girls are being held near here on the third floor."

"Thanks." Lucy was excited to learn that she was closest to the girls, knowing how they probably felt since she had been in their position before too. Most of all, she wanted to save her friend. This time she was going to be the knight saving the princesses. Now it was time to put her plan into action.

Mage and Spirits leaned together conspiratorially. "Gemi, Mimi, here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

_So far so good_, Lucy thought. _Too bad I'm probably going to faint before we get there_. Her current position, being slumped over the transformed Gemini's shoulder, had all the blood rushing to her head, making her woozy, and all the steps leading to the third floor weren't helping with all the extra swinging her torso, and thus her head, went through.

On the other hand, she deemed a little dizziness was worth it since her plan was working perfectly. They had only passed a few Bloody Claws guild members, which was weird, but all of them hadn't even batted an eyelash as their 'fellow guild member' walked past with a girl slung over one shoulder. The way this was going, this mission would be completed in no time.

Of course, all good things must come to an end.

"Marco, what are you doing up here? You're supposed to be doing border patrol." A voice called down from the direction they were currently heading in. Lucy had to remind herself to keep limp.

"Found another for the boss," Gemini-as-Marco answered, patting Lucy's rump as emphasis. Even though Lucy knew it was for the sake of continuing anonymously, she couldn't help but grit her teeth at being touched like that without her consent. An image of Natsu flitted through her head and she frowned reflexively. What was that idiot doing in her head now?

While Lucy's inner monologue had gone on there had been silence from the mage at the top of the stairs. Finally he ordered. "Bring her here."

With no way to refuse, Gemini finished their way up the staircase and stopped in front of the man.

"Put her down over here." He must have gestured because Lucy felt Gemini set her down gently on the cold wood floor.

Without warning, Lucy heard the bang of a gun and felt the Gate of Gemini close. Her eyes shot open in alarm, automatically sitting up. The man standing in front of her could only be the unfortunate Marco's brother, both sharing the same squinty eyes, burly build, and small chin. "I knew that wasn't Marco. Did you think I was stupid? He would never bring a girl here without going straight to the boss."

Lucy cursed inside her head at the turn of events, trying to subtly reach for her keys, planning to bring out Cancer, her quietest attack based Spirit. The cocking of his gun stopped her cold.

"Ah, ah," he wagged his finger at her, and then gestured with the same hand, making her fly up against the wall. His magic started choking her. "A Stellar Spirit mage, huh? Well I won't give you a chance to summon another. I'll have to give you a special punishment for whatever you've done to my brother."

The lack of oxygen became greater as he constricted the spell more around her throat. Her first instinct was to call for Natsu, the one who had always saved her, but her head rejected the impulse with the cold logic that even he wouldn't be able to hear her with her voice almost completely silent.

Almost out of air, with black spots dancing across her vision Hikari's voice drifted across her foggy mind. "_If you need me, call my name."_

Grasping onto that last thread of hope, Lucy used her last breath to choke out, "…Hi…kari…."

Light blazed next to Lucy's suspended form, and the startled dark mage swung his gun around as the figure, still half made of golden light, lunged for him, sweeping his gun to the side with one hand and smashing his face into the wall with the other. The last thing that Marco's brother saw before the darkness took him was a figure wrapped half in light and half in darkness, eyes burning with the fires of hell.

Lucy groaned, gulping desperately as she fell down to the floor, blacking out momentarily before the magic relinquished its hold on her. Hikari stepped over to her, squatting down to meet Lucy's eyes.

"You alright?" The spirit asked in a quiet, controlled tone.

Lucy nodded, still not up to speaking.

"Good. You scared me for a second, little one."

Lucy tried to smile, but didn't think she quite managed it. But Hikari seemed to be reassured by it, and that was what mattered. Lucy pointedly didn't look at the man on the floor with blood trickling down his head. "Is he dead?"

Hikari shook her head. "No. Just unconscious."

Lucy nodded, not knowing how to feel about her answer. So she turned her mind to other concerns.

"I'm weak," Lucy said dejectedly. "I couldn't even handle one mage."

"Yeah," Hikari confirmed. Lucy's head snapped up to her, shocked to hear it put so bluntly. Hikari met her gaze seriously. "But that's mostly because you're comparing yourself to your teammates, who are monster mages. On your own you come out about average. Physically you have a lot of room for improvement, but magically…"

Lucy blinked, feeling her spirits start to rise at her friend's words.

"You have the ability to summon multiple spirits at once, which isn't exactly common. You have a lot of magical ability latent inside of you. Problem is, you don't seem to know how to control it yet." Hikari eyed her speculatively. Then she grinned, the one that always signaled trouble for the people around her. "We're going to have to fix that."

There went her warm, fuzzy feelings right down the gutter.

"Anyway, what are you doing in a dark guild?" Hikari asked, moving right along, putting training issues aside for more pressing matters.

Lucy watched her warily for a second, but decided they had wasted enough time. The shot that had put Gemini out of commission should be have been heard by someone, and they were bound to be on their way. Taking a calming breath she answered, "Rescuing a bunch of kidnapped girls. We need to get them back to the Duke of Sunsdale's manor."

"Ah," Hikari's eyes darkened and she pulled Lucy up with her. "Where are they?"

"Down this hall, I think. That's where Gemi and Mimi were heading, at least."

"I can probably help you get them to the Duke's faster than going out a door."

Lucy looked at her companion curiously as she helped her down the corridor. "I can transport them through the shadow roads."

Lucy nodded, too preoccupied to give that comment the attention she normally would have. They were at the only door in this hallway. She reached out after a deep breath and opened the door.

It swung inward, revealing a group of girls of varying ages all bound and gagged. They watched the two intruders with fearful, hopeful eyes.

"Hi, I'm Lucy from Fairy Tail, and this is Hikari. We're here to rescue you." Lucy said lamely. She swept the room with her eyes, trying to find Jachina. She couldn't. Lucy stumbled up to the nearest girl; she was about her age with dirty blonde hair. She removed the gag, asking desperately. "Do you know where Jackie-Jachina is?"

She coughed slightly, and then said in a voice raspy from screaming. "The master of the guild, Günter, took her to his quarters about a quarter of an hour ago."

Lucy's breath caught. Jackie had been-. Her mind clamped down on what it was about to imagine. Lucy still had time it, hadn't been that long ago. "Where is Günter's room?"

"The western tower, down the hall and to the right. It's the biggest door with the guild's symbol on it."

Lucy thanked her, and then straightened, turning back to Hikari who was watching her warily. "Hikari, can you get them out of here?"

"Yes, but-"

"Hikari. Take them to the Duke's." Lucy's tone left no room for argument as she issued the order.

The silver cuffs around Hikari's wrists began to glow at Lucy's words. Hikari's eyes widened as she replied stiffly, "Yes, Mistress."

Lucy smiled tightly, sad that she had to order the spirit, her friend, but she had to save Jackie and these girls needed to be taken to safety. She whirled around to the door and was almost through when Hikari's voice stopped her.

"Be careful."

"Thank you." She answered without looking back and then ran out the door. On her way she pulled out the slip of paper Erza had given her, activating it.

"I found the girls, but Jackie's missing," Lucy said into the spelled bookmark, forgetting in her panic that the others only knew Jackie as Jachina. "The rest are on their way back to the Duke's mansion in Sunsdale with one of my spirits. I'm heading to west tower on the third floor now to get Jackie."

* * *

Natsu peaked around the corner, Happy hovering just above him copying the movement. Like before at the Waterloo manor, Natsu's scarf was wrapped around his head, ninja style. After a cluster of guild members walked down the opposite hall both Fairy Tail members leaped out from their corner, chakra signs at the ready. They grinned at each other, Happy muffling his giggles. This was a cakewalk.

Lurking stealthily from statues to pillars, they made their way through the western part of the fortress. The stone walls gave the place a dark, dreary décor that had Natsu's nose wrinkling in disgust. The only thing he could find likeable at all about this place was the greenery all around it, from the ivy half covering the walls and windows to the dense, surrounding forest. That and the _awesome_ man eating plant he passed in the first floor gallery. He wished he could stay and play with it, but the mission (and beating the bastards up) was more important.

Natsu hadn't been able to ask why Lucy had looked so terrified when Erza had told them about the kidnapped girls, but he had a guess. She probably knew that Jach-person, with how she lost all the color in her face when her name was said. That knowledge just made this mission all the more important to Natsu.

…He still wanted to fight someone though (preferably strong).

Natsu was pretty sure that the kidnapped women weren't in his and Happy's part of the building. There were no female scents anywhere around here (all he could smell was man stink- the bad kind that comes from no contact with any cleaning substances and washings- and the decaying mold of the house itself), but he had only gone through the first two floors and there was still one more to check.

As the pair made their way to the stairwell the spelled paper began to glow. The pair stopped and, seeing as no one was around to hear, let the message come through. They both heard Lucy's panicked voice. They could hear her footsteps as she ran, punctuating the severity of the situation with puffs of breath.

"Who's Jackie?" Happy asked with a frown.

"Lucy's friend," Natsu answered with a grin starting to spread across his face. He was sure this was who Lucy had been so worried about. And the third floor in the western tower was one of the last places for Happy and him to search... He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "Why don't we go help her out?"

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed, fisting a paw in the air.

* * *

Gray and Juvia looked at each other after listening to Lucy's message. The ice alchemist was the first to break the silence.

"Let's go wild."

Juvia nodded, giving a savage grin Gray didn't think her capable of. Despite himself he thought it made her look sexy as well as dangerous. He was glad she was on his side. He mentally shook himself, focusing on the task at hand; bringing down a dark guild.

Both readied their magic and began their mini-war on the Bloody Claws guild.

* * *

Erza smiled grimly as she pocketed the slip of paper. Turning, she ex-quiped her favorite armor to deal with multiple opponents, the one that had labeled her as the Titania. The long white skirt billowed as she stepped out into the open, gaining the attention of all the dark guild members in the vicinity. A veritable armory of swords floated above her, and her winged armor glinted in the vague light of candles and the meager sunlight shining through the windows.

"Come!" she shouted out in challenge. A sea of mages descended upon her from all sides.

* * *

Lucy really didn't know how she got into these messes. Was it Fairy Tail's curse? No, that couldn't be it- things like this happened before she entered the guild. Still… it happened a lot more frequently (make that almost constantly) since she had met Natsu. Really, every single mission, job, or outing with at least the trio of Natsu, Happy, and her always seemed to get out of hand.

…Maybe there was a pattern to this.

"Lucy!" Jackie hissed from beside her, breaking her idle contemplation. "Move over!"

"I can't! I'll fall off!" she hissed back, glaring at the brunette from the corner of her eye. Most of her attention was focused in front of them, trying to keep the dark guild-master in her line of vision.

The arrogant jerk had been strutting about like a rooster in front of a pair of hens, puffing out his chest feathers. He had made it plain that both Jackie and she were to fight over him while he watched on and he would "reward" the winner with his "attentions" and the _privilege_ of being his personal bed warmer.

Lucy thought he was delusional.

Hence why she and Jackie were suspended on a giant metal beam, only just big enough for two grown women to stand side by side on, a couple feet above a mud pit while the sick pervert of a mage was watching them from a ratty thrown-like chair to the side of the huge wooden four poster bed on a slight platform.

Currently both girls were eyeing the Sludge Pit of Fashion Doom in distaste, silently debating whether it was worth it to jump down and try to make a break for it or staying up on the beam (which was starting to wobble from the weight) to try to piece together a plan of some sort. Neither was willing to risk it just yet. Jackie because she was a sheltered young lady with delicate sensibilities, and Lucy because she was wearing her new boots and didn't want to ruin them just yet. Even if she hadn't been a bit of a tomboy to begin with, being in Fairy Tail had beaten the squeamishness out of her – for the most part. Especially considering what Günter's magic specialty was.

She looked longingly over at her key ring clutched carelessly in the hand of her captor and cursed herself silently in her head for just barreling on into the room with only a half formed plan and a panicked state of mind. It only worked well for Natsu, it seemed.

Günter caught her eye and gave her a greasy smile as he licked his lips in anticipation, making Lucy shudder and look away. She really wished Natsu was here.

"Lucy… thank you for coming for me," Jackie said quietly.

The blonde gave her friend a quick but heartfelt grin. "That's what friends are for." The brunette heiress grinned tentatively back.

"This is just nauseatingly priceless," A nasally voice broke their quiet moment. The two young women glanced down at the dark mage as he sneered up at them from his throne-like chair. "But I've waited long enough for either of you to come down from there, and I think I'll give both of you a little help." As he finished the last word he gestured, and the mud from the pit shot up and pushed them off their bar, their shrieks cut off before they barely even began.

They hit the surface with a splat and were eased inside its slippery embrace, too dazed to move for a second. Lucy regained her senses first, partly because of having been in situations like these more than she would care for, and partly because a sharp object bit into her side at the bottom of the admittedly shallow pool. Jackie gasped as she surfaced beside the Stellar mage and Lucy looked over to make sure she was alright, sludge sliding uncomfortably down her face.

Irritably grabbing at it, Lucy's hand closed over a palm-sized rock, most likely left over from making this pit in the first place. She paused, in the middle of pulling it up to chuck it away, when it dawned on her that it could be used to help her somehow get her keys back. If only she could figure out how…

The clacking of Günter's boots on the stone floor gave her the answer as he came closer to get a better view. She carefully gauged the distance from beneath her muddy brows, and when he was close enough, lobbed her impromptu weapon at his head.

She missed.

Not by much, but she had, and she silently cursed herself and her awkward throwing skills. Whips, fine. Balls, rocks, and throwing projectiles? Not so much.

Günter's attention was solely on her now, and while she was relieved he wasn't paying attention to Jackie anymore, a small part of her wished he would turn his gaze elsewhere. He reached out and she felt the mud answer him, raising her up to meet him as he stopped at the edge of the pit.

"Well aren't you the feisty one," he commented. Lucy spit in his face, not able to move any other part of her body successfully. Instead of looking disgusted or annoyed he just grinned all the wider at her action, his black beady little eyes glinting, sending a chill of unease down Lucy's spine. "I love to break the feisty ones."

Lucy's eyes widened to rims of full white around the dark brown as a shudder of fear swept through her. More mud trickled and hardened around her mouth, effectively gagging her protests.

"Lucy!" Came Jackie's cry of horror and sick determination behind the blonde, and she could just picture her friend getting up and charging forward from the one large squelching noise and the splashing sounds that followed.

Günter gestured negligently with his free hand and Jackie's shout of surprise was quickly muffled. Lucy wished she could somehow turn around, but his magic mud was like steel around her, and she could only pray that their captor hadn't permanently harmed Jackie.

Her focus was brought back abruptly to the man in front of her when his hand grabbed roughly onto her ample breast, squeezing it painfully, making Lucy wince in pain and humiliation. She forced herself to glare in impotent rage at the smarmy little bastard, refusing to give him the satisfaction of letting him see her fear or making a sound.

The harsh lust there would have broken a lesser woman, but Lucy was a mage of Fairy Tail, and even as she felt tears sting at the back of her lids she refused to let them fall. Still, she couldn't help wishing a pair of dark jade eyes was looking at her instead.

"You'll do for my new toy," Günter murmured, leaning forward to her face. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see her first kiss be stolen from her. The contact never came.

A roar echoed through the chamber, accompanied by a stream of fire slamming straight into Günter, knocking him off his feet and into the opposite wall.

Lucy felt a moment a pure relief while only one thought crossed her mind and finally let her tears spill. _Natsu came._

And then there was fire surrounding her, carefully drying the mud caked around her body, turning it brittle, and suddenly Natsu was in front of her, his pink hair unmistakable, wreathed in flames and reaching for her. He grabbed a part of her waist peeking out from her earthy prison and yanked her out. For a brief moment before she was encircled in his arms she caught a glimpse of his face through her tears. She had never seen him look so enraged, so _murderous _scales, had started to appear along his body, and it scared her for a moment even knowing it had not been directed at her.

But only for a moment. The safety of Natsu's embrace calmed her, gentle despite his temper as he pressed her face against his bare chest.

Natsu, for his part, had never been so furious. Not even when Gerard had almost killed Erza, or the old guild had been destroyed. Seeing Lucy touched like that set off a switch inside Natsu that he hadn't even been aware of. She should never be touched like that by another, especially against her will. Not his Lucy. The maggot would pay for touching what was _his._ A haze of red coated Natsu's vision. His normally rash tendencies tripled, loosening his tongue.

Lucy felt Natsu's chest vibrate from the growl that issued from the back of his throat at the mage's approach after he had recovered. Her tears had evaporated from the heat he was generating. His arms tightened around her.

"She's _mine_," he hissed. His eyes seemed to glow from the flames.

Lucy felt her insides heat at Natsu's declaration, as well as her cheeks, which confused the hell out of her, as anyone else saying that would have gotten the cheese kicked out of him, courtesy of her new steel-reinforced Heart Kruz boots. But there in Natsu's arms she just wanted to melt. He was he best friend, always there when she needed him (many times when she did not) and saving her time and again. He was the first she looked to when the monsters came (literally and metaphorically) and from the moment they had met he had pushed his way into her heart and claimed a good chunk of it for his own. She had just refused to acknowledge the fact now glaring her in the face because she had been scared and convinced it never would have come to fruition. _Stars above,_ Lucy thought in amazement._ I'm in love with Natsu._

"Cheap whores like her belong to everyone," Günter shot back nastily. His magic rose about him as he began to call upon a powerful spell. The dragonslayer snarled back in wordless rage.

"Natsu?" Lucy managed to whisper, still a bit overwhelmed and hating herself for it, but managing to bring his attention back on her. Stepping back a bit Natsu looked down into Lucy's wet mocha-colored eyes. His expression instantly gentled but didn't lose the intensity. He gave her a once-over, cataloguing her injuries, his face tightening at each new blemish.

"Stay back, Luce," he said steadily, eerily calm for his show of anger and the still intense aura of fire around him. She opened her mouth to protest, a little freaked by his mood swings and the intensity of them, but he cut her off. "Go help your friend."

Reminded of Jackie and the job they had been hired to do Lucy turned her head to see the brunette heiress in the same predicament Lucy herself had been in just a minute ago with Happy perched on top of one mud encased shoulder. She took a deep breath and nodded back at her partner. "Alright."

He gave her a feral grin, fangs flashing. "Good. I'll take care of the mud man."

Lucy turned and headed to the glint of metal that was her ring of keys that Günter had left on his chair when he had dropped Jackie and her into the mud pit, ignoring the loud clashes of the fight. She caught a glimpse of the dark mage finishing his spell just as she was about to reach the raised section of the floor.

The floor bucked, hairlines fractures splintering under Lucy's feet, causing her to lunge forward and grab her keys when she stumbled. The cool metal was reassuring in her grip and she squeezed it tightly to her breast in a moment of satisfaction.

Her quiet respite of relief was shattered as chunks of stone hailed down around and she turned to look, the noised of the fire and earth mage's battle filtering through the block she had placed against it.

Somehow Günter had managed to raise a huge amount of earth and vines from below his room and was directing them to swat the dragonslayer out of the air as he dodged, burned, and ripped the plant-life and soil away, trying to get close to the other man who had barricaded himself in a giant cocoon of vines.

…And was that a mutated Venus flytrap?

Lucy shook her head and focused on her job, mentally flipping through what Spirits would be useful for freeing Jackie as she carefully made her way back to the other two occupants of the room, Happy a blue beacon easy to spot through all the gray, green, and brown.

Hikari was taking care of the other abducted girls and Lucy didn't know how long that would take, so she couldn't call her. There was no water for Aquarius; she would just blow them all away anyway. Lyra, Crux, Horologium, and Plue were out; they were strictly passive keys, not for any fighting. Virgo was a digging kind of girl, and Scorpio's lasers could accidentally hit Jackie. Maybe Loki, but Lucy didn't feel up to his flirting at the moment…

And then the perfect idea hit her. Lucy grinned as she skidded to a stop in front of Happy and the Jackie mud state, grabbing the proper key.

"Open, gate to the Golden Bull! Taurus!" she exclaimed.

"Moooooo!" Taurus bellowed as he formed from a nimbus of light in front of his summoner, flexing his huge forearms in a bodybuilder pose. "Helloooo Lucy!"

Lucy smiled at the bullman and asked, "Can you pull Jackie-," she gestured to her captive friend "-out of the mud please?"

"Anything for youuuu!" Taurus snorted, ogling Lucy's chest. Lucy sighed, feeling drained from all the emotional, physical, and magical hurdles she had been through today, too tired to put up her usual fuss about Taurus's pervertedness. She knew he wouldn't actually do anything to upset her. Both Happy and the Spirit noticed and the exsheed jumped to the blonde and snuggled against her while the Spirit pulled the other girl out of her cage of mud.

Jackie spat the mud out after Taurus set her down and looked over at Lucy in sympathetic understanding. Günter had been preparing to do the same thing to her before Lucy had barged in. "Will you be alright?" she asked her blonde friend quietly.

Lucy just nodded with a grim, bitter smile. "You?"

Jackie drew in a shuddering breathe. "Yes."

"Lucy?" Happy looked up at her, small feline face screwed up in concern. "Are you okay?"

She smiled gently down at him, stroking his head in reassurance. "Just fine. I've got a job for you." His ears perked up as he gave her his full attention, willing to do anything to help his _nakama._ "Can you fly Jackie home for me?"

Happy looked like he wanted to protest but Lucy forestalled it by telling him, "She is one of the girls listed in the job. And the mission takes priority since I'm okay."

The little cat still looked dubious but nodded reluctantly at her reasoning and spread his wings, gliding over to the brunette. She looked up and gave the unhappy exsheed a small smile in gratitude. Just as happy lifted her off the floor she caught Lucy's eye then glanced meaningfully over at the pink haired mage currently blowing the room to pieces. Jackie smiled mischievously at the Stellar mage. "He's _hot._"

Lucy flushed crimson, spluttering as Happy flew his giggling passenger out the door. She took a deep breath and called herself, looking back at the waiting Stellar Spirit at her side.

"Can I do anything else for youuuu?" Taurus eyed his mistress seriously.

"No Taurus, but thank you," Lucy smiled.

"Then I shall take my leaaave!" And then he puffed out of this plane of existence and into his home one.

Now alone save the two battling mages, Lucy looked around for a relatively safe place to wait. With the mood Natsu was in she didn't think he would appreciate her trying to help and she'd more than likely only be in the way.

Natsu was well immersed by this point in the focused clarity battle always brought out in him. It was one of the things he loved about fighting. But this time he wanted to get close enough to just pummel the other man instead of his plants. Sure, he'd gotten a few shots in, but nothing close to what he deserved.

Gritting his teeth against the image that was seared onto his memory when he and Happy had made it to this huge bedchamber, he let loose another roar of flames, finally turning the last of the pervert's defenses into ashes.

The enraged dragonslayer was on the dark guild master before he could blink.

"Don't – you – ever – touch – Lucy – again!" Natsu ground out between punches until his opponent was almost unconscious. He pulled him up by the front of his faux-silk shirt so he could glare into his frightened, beady little eyes. "And if I ever hear you doing something like this again to any other girls I will personally track you down," Natsu threatened menacingly.

Günter nodded frantically. Natsu grunted, accepting his answer, and bashed his head in on a nearby boulder to knock him out. The harsh crack was savagely satisfying. That issue settled, the fire mage turned his attention back to his pretty blonde teammate. When he didn't immediately see her, Happy, or the other girl he took a deep breath, scenting the air and headed towards where the scent of mangos was the strongest.

He found her sitting behind a pile of rubble close to the double doors, staring down at her keys with an unreadable expression, her brow furrowed pensively. "Luce?" he called out tentatively, crouching down in front of her.

Her head jerked up, eyes wide and startled until she recognized him and began to smile. Just as quickly something seemed to occur to her, and her face turned tomato red and she jerked away from his gaze, hunching in on herself and wrapping her arms around her. This action did not have a very good effect on Natsu's here-to-for ebbing panic.

"Luce? Are you okay? Lucy?" She wouldn't meet his eyes even after he grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly, just hid farther behind the curtain of her hair. Why wouldn't she look at him? Natsu thought in alarm. Did that bastard mud mage do something else to her-? "I'll-," he growled, turning in the direction he had left the dark mage in a crumpled heap, standing up in a violent movement.

"No! Natsu, no!" He looked down at her, still poised to stalk back to the unconscious mage. Lucy still wasn't directly looking at him, just flicking her eyes up furtively from under her lashes. She fidgeted uncomfortably on her perch. "That's not it. That's not…" Her voice dropping in pitch as she trailed off, she fixed her gaze on a spot just over his shoulder.

For a minute he was puzzled, but then it dawned on him. He hadn't even truly thought about what he'd said earlier, it had mostly just been a reaction to seeing Lucy touched like that. And he could guess her answer by her reaction.

It was just the wrong one.

"I see," voice stiff, Natsu twisted his face away. Lucy brought her gaze back at his tone, confused. "Forget about what I said, then." Lucy caught an expression of pain flash across his face before he began striding away.

Blinking, she almost didn't catch the significance of his attitude before she realized that this was _Natsu_ and _of course_ he would take her reaction the wrong way. He thought she didn't like him in that way, mistaking embarrassment for rejection. She huffed a little in exasperated affection. Only Natsu. He didn't know the meaning of embarrassment.

And he was getting farther away by the second.

She hopped off her stone perch and hurried after her friend, calling, "Natsu, wait up!" when he didn't slow immediately she tried another tact. He was already out the double doors. "Please stop and listen to me, Natsu!"

Halting abruptly, he didn't turn to face her, and she skidded to a stop a few feet from his tense back. Insecurities long suppressed jumped at her now, making her doubt her resolve, but she knew Natsu couldn't wait forever and neither could she. Gulping, she screwed up her courage and asked awkwardly, hesitantly, "What did you mean back there, when you said I was yours?"

Angling his body so he was half facing her, half facing the empty stretch of hallway, his eyes bore into her a moment, searching for her motive. It took all she had not to shudder under that fierce gaze. Finally he answered, "I meant that I want you as my mate."

Lucy sucked in a breath, feeling as if she'd been sucker punched in the gullet and she blushed crimson. The fire dragonslayer had always been blunt. Now it was Lucy's turn. Taking a few steps forward mocha brown eyes met dark jade. "Does that mean you love me?" Try as she might she couldn't hide the slight tremble in her voice.

"Yes." The raw honesty in his voice was enough to break through the last Lucy's fears and hesitant immobility.

She close the rest of the distance with quick, sure steps. Reaching him in a matter of seconds she saw his eyes widen before she closed her eyes, leaned up, and softly kissed his lips, feeling him tense up under her hands braced on his forearms. The blonde lingered for a few moments before pulling back. "Me too," she whispered, a light dusting of pink gracing her features.

Natsu grinned widely down at her, clearly over the moon with her answer and action, then reached out and grabbed her back to him, actions always speaking louder than words to him, kissing her fiercely.

It wasn't a practiced kiss, clearly both parties not having much, if at all experience, but no less heartfelt and satisfying for the young couple. And as it continued on each began to learn a little how to go about the business of kissing and what their partner liked.

They finally pulled back panting and breathless at a falling rock echoing hollowly through the empty corridor.

Natsu looked down at her, eyes very dark and an elated and satisfied grin on his face, making it hard for Lucy to concentrate even with her flustered state. "W-we should get going and tell the others the mission's done. They'll be getting worried soon." Lucy muttered, trying to focus her priorities. There would be time for this and the discussion sure to follow later when the threat of one of her guildmates walking in on them making out wasn't so apparent.

"Alright," Natsu agreed. He took off again towards the stairwell, but this time his pace was slow enough for her to easily keep up, and he reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.

Lucy smiled a full-fledged one she didn't think she would be getting rid of for days as she happily walked alongside the most important person in the world to her.

* * *

**I didn't expect to take this long, but better late than never, right? As a side note, it will probably take a while to update again because I'm taking summer classes that start soon and will really be hitting the books.**

**Anyway, as a little treat for having to wait so long for an update I'm throwing in a deleted scene, one of the discarded ideas on how Lucy and Natsu get together. I liked this one too much to just throw it out. Enjoy!**

Natsu found himself on his butt on the ground before he could really grasp what was happening. A steel toed dark boot slammed down between his legs, too close to his vital parts for his comfort. He gulped, looking up at his tormentor. Hikari leaned down until her face was mere inches from his and said in the most menacing voice her had ever heard from her, made more intimidating by its quietness. "If you don't get in there and tell her right now, I'll make sure you are never able to think about a girl in that way again." The boot tapped between his legs, giving a very clear impression of what she meant. "Get it? Got it? Good!" Natsu started choking as she hauled him up by his precious scarf and threw him threw the curtained entryway of the bathroom, landing with a thump against the far wall.

When Natsu finally regained his senses, he looked up to find Lucy's shocked brown eyes peering at him through the steam of her recently finished shower. "Um, it's not what you think, Luce," he began nervously, raising his hands placatingly as she started trembling.

Even with impending danger, he couldn't help noticing how beautiful she looked.

**Until next time! Questions, comments, concerns, opinions? All are welcome!**

**~Moonlight Through the Water**


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